


Anima Luctuosa Dæmoni

by MidnightNinja27



Category: Kuroshitsuji | Black Butler
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Phantomhives Were Never Attacked, Astre needs a hug, Bizarre Dolls, Demon Ciel Phantomhive, F/M, Fallen Angels are not Demons but still a part of Hell, Happy Ending, Hell, It’s actually Astre but the tag is they way it is, Lizzy is a brat, M/M, Mpreg, Non-Human Humanoid Society, Non-homophobic world, O!Ciel is Sebastian’s Soulmate, O!Ciel’s name is Astre, OOC Astre since he never experienced THAT month so he is a soft boi, Possessive Sebastian Michaelis, R!Ciel is a jerk, Sebastian helps Astre gain confidence, So no issues with being gay in the Victorian Era, Vincent and Rachel Neglect O!Ciel, Yandere Sebastian Michaelis
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-12
Updated: 2020-07-19
Packaged: 2021-03-02 05:20:53
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 32
Words: 36,841
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23619658
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MidnightNinja27/pseuds/MidnightNinja27
Summary: AU: The Phantomhives Were Never AttackedI don't care if I fall in love with a Devil as long as that Devil will love me the way he loves Hell.Since no tragedy occurred for the Phantomhive Family, life continued on as it was. As time went on, the twins, Ciel and Astre, continued to grow. By the time the twins were fourteen, the boys were moved into separate rooms and each given a personal servant to tend to them. The servant Astre received was a handsome man by the name of Sebastian Michaelis. What no one knows is that Sebastian is a demon tracking down his True Mate -the demonic equivalent of a soulmate- and discovered his identity to be one Astre Phantomhive.The title is Latin for “The Demon’s Soul”.
Relationships: Alexis Leon Midford/Francis Midford, Elizabeth Midford/Ciel Phantomhive, Rachel Phantomhive/Vincent Phantomhive, Real Ciel Phantomhive/Elizabeth Midford, Sebastian Michaelis/Ciel Phantomhive
Comments: 60
Kudos: 298





	1. Caelum Mihi

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Dawnlightsilhouette](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dawnlightsilhouette/gifts).



Narrator's POV

At age sixteen, Astre Lune Phantomhive knew all the cards were stacked against him.

Since he was born barely twenty minutes after Ciel, he was considered nothing.

Ciel would be Earl Phantomhive; Ciel would be the Queen's Watch Dog; Ciel had a fiancée who adored him; Ciel received the majority of their parent's love and attention; Ciel was the one everyone focused upon.

Ciel was the heir, Astre was the spare.

Astre would never be Earl Phantomhive; Astre would never be the Queen's Watch Dog; Astre didn't have a fiancée; Astre was barely acknowledged by their parents; Astre was the one everyone ignored.

Astre would've been fine with all of that if Ciel still liked him.

Back when they were little, they were as close as close could be, but as they grew into their teens, practically the day they turned twelve, something switched in the older twin.

Suddenly, Astre's once loving and attentive brother was suddenly his bully.

It began with him requesting their rooms being separated and had escalated from there.

The bullying reached its peak on their thirteenth birthday when Ciel thought it would be funny to push the more fragile Astre down the stairs.

And unfortunately, with Astre's rotten luck, his face smacked right into the banister of the stairs, resulting in the loss of his right eye.

Elizabeth had been present during the incident and had been standing beside Ciel when he pushed him, but when the twin's parents had asked what had happened, she joined Ciel in the lie that he had tripped.

And for awhile, Astre himself had believed the lie, but that night the older twin had visited his room 'to check up on him' and once alone he had smiled and said, "Now no one will ever get us mixed up again."

"Deep in thought, my love?" The soothing baritone of Astre's lover asked, bringing him back to the present

"I am." Astre replied as water was gently poured onto his navy blue hair

"What's going on in that beautiful mind?" The red-eyed butler asked

Astre gave Sebastian a small smile, "Nothing interesting."

Once Ciel had turned on him, Astre had had no one in his life, but then his father had hired Sebastian to tend to him around the time he was fourteen.

In the following year, Astre had developed a crush on his butler and had confessed his crush when he turned fifteen and was ecstatic to learn it was reciprocated.

Since then, he and Sebastian had been on a relationship for little over a year and in that time Astre had been the happiest.

Now, with his bath was over and Sebastian drying him off, Astre simply sat there, appreciating the sight of Sebastian; the way his muscles could be defined through his uniform when he bent his arms, the chisel of his jaw, his high cheekbones and his slightly hollow cheeks, his almond-shaped eyes and their deep red that almost looked brown.

Catching a glimpse of his own reflection in the nearby mirror, Astre saw his face and both his blue and lavender eyes.

After Ciel had caused him to loose his right eye, Sebastian returned it to him just a few months ago when he confessed that he was a demon and he was his True Mate.

At first, Astre hadn't believed him but once his eye was returned he accepted the truth.

But, with demon magic, nothing lost could ever truly return so instead of having two blue eyes, he had his original blue eye and his replacement was lavender.

Once all dry, Sebastian dressed Astre in his nightshirt and placed him on the plush bed, then opening the bedside drawer and retrieving a necklace.

The choker was made of silver with a small sapphire in the center.

Placing it around the teenage boy's neck, Astre's nightly preparations were complete.

Sebastian had given the necklace to Astre the night after he had told him the truth, saying that it was a tradition for demons to gift their True Mates a necklace that symbolized their relationship and pretty much would repel all other demons away from him.

Additionally, it was enchanted to always let Sebastian know where he was and the emotions he felt as well as his health.

As a result, Astre wore it constantly under his high shirt collars, the only exceptions being when he bathed, being looked over by a doctor or was being measured by the tailor.

"Good night, my darling." Sebastian whispered, kissing him

Astre kissed back as he settled into his blankets, "Good night, Sebastian."

***

With that, Sebastian left the room and closed the door behind him, heading down to the servant's quarters for the rest of his nightly routine before he could return to his mate.

Making his way to the bottom floor, he passed the kitchen and made it towards his room in the servant's quarters that he shared with Ciel's butler.

He just had to wait for Simeon, Ciel's butler, to fall asleep to go back to Astre; he just needed to be seen during the night and be back before he awoke.

So he made sure Simeon say him preparing for sleep by beginning to remove his coat and once the blond butler was snoring, he slipped the coat back on and slipped into the shadows back to Astre's room.

***

The teenage boy sat on his bed, cocooned by his thick blankets on the chilly night to avoid catching chill but still asleep, having fallen asleep waiting for his demon to return.

The demon chuckled at the sight, still hidden in the shadows of the room but unheard and unseen by human eyes and ears.

Stepping out of the shadows, Sebastian laid his mate down and covered him properly, kissing his forehead, "Rest well, caelum mihi."

"D-Don't go, Sebas-." Astre whispered, too tired to even finish his sentence

"I wouldn't dream of it, I'll be right here until sunrise." Sebastian soothed, caressing Astre's face as he sat on the edge of the bed...


	2. The Phantomhives

Narrator's POV

As the sun's beams stubbornly made their way through the cracks in the curtains of Astre's bedroom, Sebastian knew his morning routine must begin.

He quickly shadowjumped through the rooms of the manor until he was back in his room, making a show of getting dressed as Simeon woke.

The demon then made his way into the kitchen, moving past the bustling cooks to get the tea cart awaiting him to take to his Young Master, which may or may not include sabotaging Simeon's cart by putting a dead fly in the teapot meant for Ciel that would magically appear in his cup.

He then made his way up to Astre’s room, leaving the cart a few feet from the bed and starting the tea.

"What a lovesick fool Astre has turned me into." Sebastian thought as he poured tea into his sleeping mate's cup, the hot water going through the filter past the leaves of the Lady Grey blend

The butler then went to the window, opening the curtains to fully allow the sunlight into the dark room.

Astre yawned as he awoke, stretching his arms as he groggily sat up.

"Good morning, my love." Sebastian greeted as the minute glass for the tea fully drained

With the tea fully seeped, he removed the filter and put in the two cubes of sugar Astre liked in his tea and mixed it, then giving the cup and saucer to him with a kiss.

While Astre drank his morning tea, Sebastian told him what he had over heard in the kitchen today, "It seems Lady Elizabeth is coming to visit your brother today."

Astre frowned, he hated when she came to visit, it always meant that Ciel would pay more 'attention' to him in order to impress his fiancée.

Sebastian then offered relief, "I am arranging a day in the garden for you."

Astre nodded, scooting to the edge of the bed so he could be dressed, "When is she expected to get here?"

"After breakfast." Sebastian answered, undressing him from his nightshirt

Once Astre was dressed in bright blue shorts with a black trim, a matching overcoat and vest, a white button-up shirt with a high collar, Sebastian tied the black bow around his neck.

Finally, his black garters were put on along with his black stockings, black buckled shoes and his black eyepatch.

With Astre fully dressed —and the mating choker hidden under his shirt— Sebastian escorted him to the dining room for breakfast, both hearing Ciel squeal from within his room as he was given his spoiled tea.

***

Like always, Astre was the first one at the table, taking his seat beside where Ciel would be sitting when he arrived.

It didn't take long for his mother and father to arrive, and Ciel soon followed after that.

With the Earl and heir now present, servants served breakfast.

All four members of the family were presented with Eggs Benedict with smoked salmon, fresh fruits, scones with cinnamon pear butter, as well as sweet thick milk with biscuits(cookies) to dip in it.

The conversation at the table was very brief, all of which was directed at Ciel.

Astre ate in silence, none of his family acknowledging him when he greeted them.

He supposed he should be used to their disinterest by now, but it still stung every time.

***

After their meal, the family went their separate ways to continue their day.

Astre was in the entrance hall, walking towards the staircase to go back to his room, when the door was opened and Lizzy ran in, squealing, "Cieeeeeeeeeeeellllll~"

The blonde tackled her fiancé and hugged him close, "I missed you, Ciel!"

"I missed you too, Lizzy." Ciel wheezed, still choking under her hold

Astre was quick to hurry up the stairs, hoping to avoid their notice.

He rushed into his room and closed the door, nearly slamming it.

The sixteen year old then touched the sapphire around his neck, "Sebastian, help me."

A single black feather appeared first, dropping to the floor in front of him.

When the bluenette blinked, the feather was gone and Sebastian was standing in its place, "What's wrong, darling?"

"Ciel and Lizzy are waiting for me to go back downstairs. Get me past them." Astre requested

Sebastian places a hand over his heart, "Yes, my Lord."

The butler peeled out the window, making sure there were no servants directly outside and then opened the window.

He picked Astre up bridal style and jumped out the window, the window magically closing behind them.

Sebastian then put Astre down, seating him on a stone bench and wrapping a black scarf around his neck to protect him from the autumn chill.

With a kiss to Astre’s forehead, Sebastian told him a goodbye and he’d try to return as soon as he could, Mr. Tanaka was having him do inventory in the wine cellar and he had to go.

Astre nodded in understanding and bid him goodbye.

The blue-eyed boy walked around the garden, looking at the flowers and carved hedges.

As he turned around the corner, there he saw Ciel walking towards him with Lizzy on his arm.

“Oh look, beloved, it’s your broken spare.” Lizzy said to her fiancé, mocking Astre

Astre began to turn around, not wanting to deal with their taunting, but Ciel stopped him.

“Where are you going, you pathetic failure?” Ciel asked, grabbing Astre’s shoulder

“Leave me alone.” Astre said, trying to get out of his hold

“Why?” Ciel cruelly asking, “We’re only talking to you?”

Astre’s breaths began to become shorter and quicker, “Leave me alone.”

Lizzy laughed, “Are you going to have an asthma attack from a conversation? No wonder no one loves you.”

***

Down in the cellar, Sebastian was writing down the quantity of Madeira wine when he felt a surge in panic from the connection he had to the necklace Astre wore.

The demon put the inventory list on the shelf and teleported a few feet from Astre, appearing behind a bush.

He magicked one of the scarves from Astre’s wardrobe and went around the corner where Ciel and Elizabeth were teasing Astre.

“There you are, young master.” Sebastian said, talking to Astre, “Its far too chilly for you to be out here, let’s get you by a fire.”

Astre immediately went up to him, following him back inside.

By the time they arrived back in Astre’s room, Sebastian created a fire with a flick of his wrist and wrapped the second scarf around his mate’s neck, “So many people have not handled you with care, my love."...


	3. Promises

Narrator's POV

Astre sat cuddled up in his room, reading his favorite book, "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes" by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, his copy had even had been signed by the man.

He was waiting for Sebastian to return and bring him his lunch, so when the door opened he smiled and turned to face it.

Instantly, he smile died when he saw it was Lizzy and Ciel.

"Please leave me alone." Astre said, looking away

"Where are your manners? Is that any way to greet your brother and his future wife?" Lizzy scolded as she and Ciel entered the room anyways

Astre said nothing, not looking at them as he stared blankly into his book.

That seemed to annoy the older twin, so Ciel snatched the book out of Astre's lap, laughing as he flipped through the pages, "A detective story, Astre? Maybe you should be one and finally be useful to someone."

"No way!" Lizzy protested, pointing at Astre, "He might take your spotlight if he somehow manages to do well."

Ciel nodded, tossing the book into the fire, "You're right, dear, no one should be in my spotlight. Besides, it's not like they would want a sickly officer."

Astre began to tear up as the flames ate his book, his favorite book that had comforted him for years, was gone because his brother was being a jerk.

Lizzy began to laugh when she noticed the tears building up in Astre's eye, "Look, he's crying over a book!"

Teared rolled down Astre's left cheek and began to soak up in his eyepatch which covered up his right eye.

***

Down in the kitchen, Sebastian was chatting with one of the cooks regarding Astre's mid-day meal when he felt sadness and fear over the bond.

He hurried the conversation and before long he was pushing his cart towards when he sensed his mate, going faster than a human could by traveling through the shadows.

The butler swiftly made his way to the door of Astre's room, opening the door and seeing his beloved crying while Ciel and Lizzy were mocking him for being so weak for crying.

The demon saw red, his red eyes glowing magenta, he was red to kill them both and rip them apart and paint the room crimson with their blood. 

But he had to be smart, he couldn't give into his anger.

Yet.

For now, he just cleared his throat and said, "Young Master, I've brought your afternoon tea."

That seemed to scare off the bullies, who rushed away as soon as he spoke.

As soon as they were gone, Sebastian kneeled before his mate, wiping away his tears with a handkerchief, "What did they do this time, love?"

Astre couldn't seem to get the words together without tearing back up, so Sebastian used context clues, seeing the Sherlock Holmes bookmark without the book it never left.

He then saw the lump in fireplace.

The demon immediately put two and two together and fished the burned lump from the fireplace, the flames never touching him, and used a bit of magic to repair it.

Sebastian wiped a bit of ash from the cover, handing it back to Astre, "There, good as new."

Astre held the book close, it had been a gift from Sebastian for his previous birthday, he knew how much he had read and kept the magazines the stories had first been published in so he got him the book when it was published.

Sebastian presses a kiss to his beloved'a lips, "Now, lets get you fed."

***

After enjoying the rest of his afternoon, Astre sighed and knew he had to attend dinner.

Unfortunately, he couldn't claim a headache since he had done that last time Lizzy had visited and the girl had made a scene about how Astre never spent time with her.

So, he let Sebastian escort him to dinner and sat beside Ciel like always, with Lizzy sitting across from Ciel.

Though, it still made Astre extremely comfortable to know Sebastian would be one of the servants serving the meal, so he knew he'd be there to protect him.

He made it through the meal in relative peace, though he didn't remain long as soon as the meal concluded; no one —except Sebastian— noticed when he left.

Astre quickly made his way back up to his room.

The teen collapsed on his bed, finally relaxing.

He craved the day he and Sebastian would escape together, but he knew it was still some time away.

So until then, he just needed to stay focused.

For now, the blunette retrieved his diary from the magically locked drawer Sebastian made for him that would only let him open it, and retrieved a quill and ink.

First, he opened the journal and read the locations Sebastian had promised to take him too one day, places like Paris, Milan, Rome and Venice, and decided to write a fantasy about what he wanted his future to be like.

He even drew a little sketch to go with it, one of a wedding with him dressed as a bride in a flowing gown and Sebastian in a suit similar to his butler uniform but more elegant.

The cute drawing took a rather demented turn when he added details like their guests being the corpses of his family, including his extended family.

Astre giggled a bit as he finished up, he couldn't wait for the day they married.

***

Astre didn't know he fell asleep until he was woken by Sebastian's gentle hands, "I'm sorry to wake you, darling, but we need to finish your nightly routine first."

Astre nodded, getting stripped and carried into his bathroom.

Once he was placed into the warm water, he relaxed as Sebastian bathed him.

"I saw the drawing you made." Sebastian said as he lathered rose scented shampoo into his mate's hair

Astre blushed, "What did you think?"

"Of the art of what it was of?" The butler asked

"Both." Astre said, his blush darkening

"Your art skills have definitely improved these past few years, but in regards to the subject of the drawing, well, I'll see what I can do to make it reality." Sebastian smiled

Astre sighed happily, "I love you."

"And I, of course, love you too, caelum mihi." Sebastian replied, rinsing off the shampoo

“I’ve never asked, but what does that mean?” Astre asked, looking up at him

“‘Caelum mihi? It’s Latin, which is the language spoken regularly by demons.” Sebastian answered

“I guessed that much, but what does it mean in English?” Astre clarified

“As a demon, I will never know what heaven is like, but as far as I’m concerned, you are far superior to anything that realm could offer. So, I call you ‘my heaven’.” Sebastian explained...


	4. London

Narrator's POV

The following day, Astre found it starting like any other.

He was woken by Sebastian when his curtains were opened a kiss placed on his forehead.

The teen boy then sat up and drank his cup of tea, today's being Ceylon, while Sebastian told him the plans for the day.

"It seems your brother and his fiancée have convinced your parents to spend the week in London." Sebastian informed, "I've already made your preparations and we shall be going after breakfast."

Astre nodded, finishing his tea.

He was then dressed in a white, high collared dress shirt like usual, a forest green overcoat lined with black with matching shorts.

Additionally, he was put in black garters, stockings, shoes and eyepatch, his outfit sealed with a navy blue ribbon around his neck.

Once he was dressed, Astre was escorted to the dining room for breakfast by his butler.

***

Breakfast had been peaceful, though Astre was already dreading the four hour carriage ride to London, cramped into the family carriage with his parents and tormentors with the necessary servants in a separate, less grand, carriage behind them.

Which meant, Astre would be cut off from Sebastian for the next four hours and be left at Ciel and Lizzy's mercy.

The only relief the teen had was that they couldn't be quite as cruel where their parents could see and that he could easily escape them in London until they returned home.

After all, mother and father had let them wander London alone with their personal servants since they were thirteen, and this trip was no different.

But for now, Astre sat cramped with his brother and Lizzy on the cushioned seat of the carriage with his parents across from them.

***

In the servant's carriage, Sebastian sat cramped between Simeon and Tanaka, with Lizzy's lady's maid, Paula, sitting across from them along with the housekeeper and the head cook.

These carriages were meant to seat four comfortably, but they could seat up to six uncomfortably, which was the situation he was now in.

Since he was a demon, his senses regarding pain were far more dull compared to a human's, so it wasn't that uncomfortable, especially since three servants had been forced to sit outside to drive the carriages.

***

The carriage ride was long and boring for everyone involved, but they reached the Townhouse by around 1:30pm, the kitchen servants quickly prepared an afternoon tea using the jarred preserves and the staples, baking a suitable lunch.

After the mid-day meal, Astre watched as Ciel and Lizzy left with Simeon and Paula to chaperone them.

The lonely teen began to head up the stairs to his room here when, surprisingly, his mother spoke to him, holding a coin-pouch, "Astre, dear, here's some money, go have some fun."

"Thank you, mother." Astre thanked, opening the blue silk coin-pouch and seeing about three gold sovereigns and about a sovereign's worth of of shillings (which is about 20 shillings).

Astre then excitedly found Sebastian, who was dusting off Astre's bedroom, and told him of what he had gotten.

It wasn’t long after that Astre found himself bundled in a scarf and thicker stockings, and walking out of the Townhouse with Sebastian barely a step behind.

Since Ciel and Lizzy has taken the family carriage on their outing, Astre was left with either the servant carriage, walking or Hansom Cab.

Sebastian knew Astre’s asthma in addition to the windy autumn weather made walking the mile to the shopping district out of the question, and the servant carriage was simply a disrespect to Astre’s status, so he quickly flagged down a cab to take.

Astre paid the cab driver two shillings for the ride —the ride itself cost a shilling and a half, but he didn’t have any smaller change so he just gave him a tip— once they had arrived to the district and took Sebastian’s hand to get out.

Over the course of the next few hours, the pair visited many shops, but they stopped and took a break on a public bench by a park.

Or rather, Astre sat on the bench while Sebastian stood beside him as protocol demanded him as a servant.

On the bench, Astre was eating from a bag of candy he had just purchased, four shillings had gotten him a kilo of candy.

“Only two more, Astre, we would t want to spoil your dinner.” Sebastian lowly said, not wanting to embarrass him in public but still being responsible

Astre pouted but did as told, eating only two more licorice humbugs before resealing the bag and handing it to Sebastian to carry.

The butler put the small bag into his coat pocket and followed Astre to the next shop of interest.

Little did his mate know, but the demon was on high alert, he knew they were being followed to quite possibly be mugged.

A quick glance across the street showed him the male walking the same direction as them.

At first he had assumed it to be coincidence, but after seeing the man pause whenever they went into a shop told him everything.

Currently, Astre’s attention was focused upon a toy shop, and so Sebastian loyally followed him in, seeing the man pausing yet again.

He didn’t want to frighten Astre by informing him of the man following them, so he wouldn’t mention it unless the want-to thief grew bolder.

***

Standing across the street from the toy shop, Lucas Redfern watched the blue-haired boy in the eyepatch pick up a white plush rabbit dressed like a butler following him and hand it to said butler to hold for him while he continued to browse.

Lucas had been following the pair for about half an hour, having first noticed them in the crowd of people.

The kid stuck out like a sore thumb, his clothes alone looked expensive enough to cost anyone else a seven years worth of wages (since the average wage was £52 a year), but it had been his coin-pouch, particularly how full it seemed, that had drawn his attention.

So, Lucas watched as the kid handed over a sovereign to the clerk after the rabbit was covered up and given to the butler to carry.

The pair then left the shop and Lucas began to internally panic, they might’ve going home soon so he needed to strike now.

So, he made his way down the emptying street and pushed them into the alley, the butler looked lanky and Lucas was certain he could beat him in a fight.

Or at least, he tried, he slammed himself into the butler but he didn’t even flinch.

Lucas found himself pulled into the alley and beaten.

***

Astre watched, his heart thumping wildly as he watched Sebastian punch their assailant repeatedly in the face and stomach.

The blunette barely noticed when Sebastian looked back to face him, his bow bloodied white glove holding the man’s throat.

The demo said nothing, but the lookin his eyes was clear enough: he wanted to know whether he was to kill their attacker or just beat him up.

Astre gulped and nodded, giving his lover permission.

“Yes, my Love.” Sebastian darkly said, his red eyes glowing magenta as he summoned a dagger and stabbed the man in the stomach

He then allowed the man to slump to the floor in pain before slitting his throat to insure he died.

A snap cleaned Sebastian’s bloodied clothing, and he quickly picked up the boxed toy and flagged a cab as if nothing had happened.

Astre was assisted into the cab and paid the two shilling fee when they arrived back at the Townhouse.

Luckily, they arrived home before Ciel and Lizzy, so Astre went up to his room with Sebastian to relax until dinner...


	5. The Duke

Narrator's POV

The following night, Astre sat in his bedroom alone.

He, Ciel and Lizzy had all been sent to bed early since father and mother were having friends over.

And unfortunately for Astre, Sebastian had to go serve drinks after tucking him in.

But that's not what bothered the sixteen year old, what bothered him was well, his own body.

You see, when Sebastian had kissed him goodnight, the kiss got a little more passionate then it ever had before, even involving a bit of tongue.

And well, that made Astre a bit...aroused.

It certainly didn't help that in this day and age, that the act of pleasuring oneself was seen as very disgraceful.

Astre was familiar with the concept of sex, he had even heard Ciel's moans through the walls when the older twin pleasured himself on previous occasions, but Astre had no clue how to do it himself.

This wasn't the first time he had pondered this, as his hormones often made him lustful, but he had never acted on those thoughts.

He had even previously considered asking Sebastian, but the thought of doing so embarrassed him.

The teen gazed down at the stuffed rabbit leaning against his thighs, realizing even if he figured out how to do it Sebastian would sense his pleasure the whole time due to his necklace.

And if he took the necklace off, that would still alert his demonic lover who would probably come and investigate.

Sighing, the bluenette ignored his arousal and went back under the plush covers, hugging his new stuffed animal close.

***

Downstairs, Sebastian was rather annoyed though it was hidden as his face remained neutral.

Currently, he was listening into a conversation the Earl was having with Baron Diedrich.

“Your son is engaged is he not?” The German man asked his friend, picking up a tea sandwich from the nearby tray

“Ciel? Yes, he’s engaged to Frances’ daughter.” Vincent answered after taking a puff from his cigar

“No, not your heir, I meant the other one.” Baron Diedrich clarified

“Oh, him. No, the other one isn’t engaged. No one’s been willing to an engagement with how sickly he is.” Earl Phantomhive answered

“Have you tried foreign aristocracy? Or perhaps with widows?” The black haired man suggested

“If you want him, old friend, he’s yours.” Vincent offered

“No, no, I just merely wished to assist.” Diedrich denied, “I only realized that a widow might enjoy him more since his life expectancy is about as long as a widow’s.”

The blue haired earl rested his head on his hands, “You’re right, I’ll have to look into it.”

Sebastian’s annoyance turned into anger, barely managing to conceal his demonic traits, though he failed in keeping his nails from becoming claws and ripping the fingertips of his gloves.

A bit of magic fixed that issue, though the demon still saw red.

The mere idea of another being romantic with his darling Astre made him livid; the thought of another touching his precious mate disgusted him, but for another to kiss him, wed him, ravish him made Sebastian desire blood.

The bottle of champagne in his hands nearly cracked with his rage, but he kept himself in check, if a marriage proposal is what Vincent wanted, a proposal he would get.

***

After the noble’s social gathering, Sebastian finished up his nightly chores and went to his own quarters, furiously writing a letter whilst Simeon slept and snuck it into the Earl’s pillow of calling cards.

After which, he made his way into Astre’s room, smiling at the beautiful sight.

His darling looked somehow even more perfect illuminated in the moonlight.

His porcelain pale skin glowed softly —half hidden by his thick comforter—, his navy blue hair looked ethereal, his plump pink lips perfectly kissable, his perfectly manicured hands delicate and small.

Oh, what a perfect mate he had been given; he needed to insure no other competitors would ever arrive for his darling’s affection.

Astre Lune Phantomhive belonged to him; his entire mind, body and heart would only know his adoration.

***

The next morning, Vincent Phantomhive was looking through his calling cards when he noticed an envelope much different than all the others.

Most of the aristocracy used cream colored envelopes secures with red wax with their crest sealed upon it, but this envelope was black with red wax with the crest apron it of a raven.

He opened the letter and read it,

“Earl Vincent Phantomhive,

We have not yet had the pleasure of formally meeting, but, I have heard of your esteemed self. It has come to my attention that you have two children, one of which is eligible for marriage. If possible, I would like permission as well as your blessing to court your younger son. It would be an honor to get a reply from you.

Yours sincerely,  
Duke Alexandre Crowther.”

Vincent hummed, what luck he received a marriage proposal for his sickly son, he’d have to invite this Duke Crowther to the ball he and Marquess Midford were planning...


	6. The Samhain Ball

Narrator's POV

By the time the week at London ended and Lizzy left returned back to her own home with Paula in tow.

Astre enjoyed the next few weeks since Ciel didn’t tend to bother him without Lizzy’s presence.

Soon enough, October came and was about to end when the family of four dressed in their costumes to prepare for the costume ball the Midford’s were hosting.

The ball was a social gathering for nobles loosely masquerading as a charity event.

For this years Samhain Ball, the family was dressed in all sorts of costumes: Rachel as Marie Antoinette, Vincent as Robespierre, Ciel as a pirate and Astre dressed up as a demon.

Out of the four of them, Astre had the cutest costume; Vincent’s was rather plain, almost as if it were simply picked out from his closet; and pirates were such a common choice for these parties that Astre wouldn’t be surprised if there were ten more pirates also in attendance.

Rachel came closest, standing firmly in second place with her beautiful white gown with the exaggerated hips —nearly taking up the whole carriage seat with its length— and lots of fabric and pearls.

Astre’s costume, admittedly, was also somewhat practical like his father’s having components he could wear more than once, but the majority had been ordered for the party.

The undershirt, vest and shorts could and would be worn again, as well as the boots and ribbons and quite possibly the hat if it went through some slight alterations.

His hat, undershirt that had ruffled wrists, gloves that started halfway through his palm, shorts and thigh-high boots were all a dark grey; his corseted vest was marine blue with black detailing; his high stockings, what little of it that was still cow ale through his boots, were vertical lines of black and wine red, he had a mesh train of the marine blue and grey and lastly, were the tiny black ram’s horns that came off of his hat as well as the marine blue tail sewn onto the ties of his train.

All of his ribbons, from the one around his hat to the ones around his neck and ankles were all the same wine red.

Additionally, he had real raven feathers on his hat, thought no one but him knew that those feathers came from his lover.

***

It didn’t take more than two hours to arrive to Midford Manor, slightly early to the party.

And while they were early, they were clearly not the first guests to arrive guessing by the number of carriages outside.

Astre hates whenever they entered a social gathering together all everyone saw was Ciel and his brother; no one ever saw them as Ciel and Astre.

It was as if he was just a fashion accessory, no one really acknowledged him unless he made himself known.

And honestly, he gave up on that years ago, no longer caring that he was an outcast.

And as he always had, he made himself a wallflower in the ball, trying to avoid Ciel, Lizzy —who was dressed as an American Indian—, and all of their cronies, which were the children of other nobles —nearly all of which, much to Ciel’s dismay and Astre’s delight, were dressed like pirates.

He hated balls and parties on a good day, but he especially hated the ones not hosted at home, now he didn’t even have Sebastian’s presence to comfort him.

After an hour or so, Astre was very suprised when his father came and found him with another man who was dressed as a vampire.

The stranger wore a ruffled white shirt, black pants, black gloves, and a black silk cape with a red silk interior which was secured around his neck with a ruby encased in gold.

Upon further inspection, the stranger was no stranger at all, it was Sebastian, who had simply combed his bangs aside to clear his face.

How no one else recognized him, Astre didn’t know, but he wouldn’t revel anything.

“Son, this is Duke Alexandre Crowther, he has expressed interest in courting you.” Vincent explained, “Duke Crowther, this is my son, uh, my youngest son.”

Even though Astre was upset his father didn’t remember his name, he didn’t embarrass his father further and genuflecting towards the ‘Duke’, “Its a pleasure to meet you, your grace. My name is Astre Phantomhive.”

As soon as the introductions were made, Vincent slipped away and Astre visibly relaxed, smiling at his lover, “I can’t believe you did this.”

Sebastian smiled back and shrugged, “I overheard your father wished to find you a betrothed and simply couldn’t allow it.”

Before their conversation could continue, the dancing began and everyone was pulled towards the dance floor.

“May I have this dance, my darling?” Sebastian asked, extending his hand

Astre blushed, looking down, “You know I can’t dance.”

“Step on my feet as much as you wish; as long as you’re dancing with me.” Sebastian countered

Astre smiled, taking his hand, “Then you may.”

Sebastian led them towards the dance floor where they began to waltz, their rhythm only occasionally interrupted by Astre’s metaphorical two left feet.

***

As the couple danced together, across the dance floor another couple was doing the same.

Lizzy was smiling, resting her head on Ciel’s shoulder as they danced perfectly in sync and in rhythm with the music.

As she was twirled, she noticed the same thing happen to Astre across the ballroom.

“Who’s that dancing with your brother?” Lizzy asked, whispering

Ciel glanced the way she was, seeing the smiling couple, “I don’t know, I’ll find out later.”

***

The ball lasted hours, Astre spending every moment with ‘Duke Crowther’, either dancing with him, relaxing with him or on his arm.

And the ‘Duke’ was making a name for himself, sharing interesting tales and spinning a story of having just returned to England after finishing his studies in France.

It was easy to say he was an instant hit amount the nobility, many eager to gain friendship/alliances with him.

But as the midnight hour approached, many of the guest began to trickle out and go home.

The Phantomhives were not exempt from this, save Ciel who wished to spend the week with Lizzy.

So, Astre boarded the carriage with his parents.

Much to the teen’s disappointment, he was talked to maybe for a minute as they boarding the carriage regarding his thoughts on Duke Crowther and then ignored the entire ride home.

They arrived home around three in the morning, the bluenette struggled his way up the stairs, but quickly found himself scooped up by his butler.

Astre smiled, kissing his cheek, “Thank you.”

“Of course, anything for you, caelum mihi.” Sebastian replied, carrying him to bed...


	7. Sniffles

Narrator's POV

As autumn became winter, as October rolled into late November, Astre found himself struck with a cold.

So now, Astre found himself confined to bed for the second day in a row.

The blunette was bored out of his mind and in pain.

Currently, the symptoms that were truly bothering him were the fever, coughing and chills, the others were bearable.

Astre sighed as he laid against the plush pillows of his bed, his head pounded with his fourth headache of the morning.

The teen was so lost in the delirium of his fever that he didn't even notice when his bedroom door was opened and Sebastian entered with his cart.

"How are you feeling, love?" Sebastian asked, preparing the tea

Astre merely groaned in response, aching too much to want to talk.

Sebastian closed the curtains, "I understand, darling, I've brought some items that might help."

Astre still didn't speak but he sat up, ready for assistance.

"I've prepared Bai Hao Yin Zhen tea, or White Hair Silver Needle tea, it's a white tea imported from the Yunnan Province of China and I've read it helps with inflammation and headaches." Sebastian informed, "I've also acquired some lavender honey to help sooth your scratchy throat and help you relax. Would you like me to mix it into your tea or have it separately?"

"Separately." Astre mumbled, rubbing his eyes

"Would you like it before or after tea?" Sebastian inquired

"Before." The sick teen said, coughing hoarsely after

Sebastian immediately pulled Astre's inhaler out of his tailcoat's pocket, ready in case the coughing fit went south and became an asthma attack.

Fortunately it didn't, so the inhaler was put away and the demon poured the lavender honey onto a spoon and held it before Astre's lips and waited for him to consume it.

After a total of four spoonfuls, Astre's throat felt a lot better —for now— and he was ready for tea.

Astre enjoyed the tea, liking its delicate flavor, he was sure he'd enjoy it much more when his senses of smell was returned as well as his taste less dulled from the sickness.

After he had his tea, he was asked if he was hungry; the teen had refused breakfast earlier and dinner the previous night.

The heterochromatic eyed boy nodded, his hunger starting to return.

"Good." Sebastian smiled, "I've brought you some chicken soup with croutons."

The lacquered wooden breakfast-in-bed tray was placed over Astre's lap, its legs outside of the teen's.

The silver dome was removed from the food's plate and the teen began to eat the soup, occasionally putting a few of the croutons in for texture.

He ate about half of the small bowl before becoming full, wanting it taken away.

"Do you desire anything else, beloved?" Sebastian asked, wanting Astre to be as comfortable as can be given the circumstances

The teen was silent for a moment, still holding his stuffed rabbit close, "Read to me."

"Of course, darling." Sebastian said, "Any preferences?"

The bluenette shook his head, his eyes on his mini library in the corner of his room.

Sebastian walked to said bookshelf and selected the book Astre alway read when sick, "Frankenstein; or the Modern Prometheus" by Mary Shelley.

The butler then sat on Astre's bed, holding the fever ridden teen in his arms as he used magic to hold the book up —though by now he knew the book for for word, Astre still enjoyed reading it as he listened.

Sebastian began to read aloud, "Chapter One. 'I am by birth a Genevese; and my family is one of the most distinguished of that republic...'"

***

They made it half-way through chapter three when Astre fell asleep, his body exhausted from the illness he was still fighting.

Sebastian didn't want to leave him, but he still had to take care of the rest of the chores of the day.

And besides, he also had a surprise planned.

***

Around 7:30pm, a knocking was heard at the doors of the manor.

The closest servant, which happened to be Tanaka, answered the door and found a mail carrier holding a giant basket filled with items.

The shivering mail carrier said, "A-A p-present from Duke Cro-Crowther for As-Astre Phant-Phantomhive."

Tanaka accepted the gift and brought it inside, beginning to take it up the stairs.

As he carried it down the hall towards Young Master Astre's room, he came across Young Master Ciel.

The blue eyed teen immediately assumed it was a gift for him, probably from Lizzy as she was currently staying in France with her family and she usually sent him gifts, so he held his hand out for the basket.

"I'm afraid this gift isn't for you, young lord, it's for your brother from his suitor." Tanaka unformed, invoking lightly on Astre's door

Ciel was left dumbfounded as Sebastian opened the door and took the basket to give to Astre.

***

Astre had recently woken from his nap, still stretching as Sebastian answered the knock on the bedroom door.

“What’s this?” Astre asked, confused

Sebastian smirked, “A ‘Get Well Soon’ gift from Duke Crowther.”

Astre giggled a bit, which made his cough, but he accepted it as soon as he finished coughing.

He began to look through the basket, first untying the ribbion and reading the card.

It read that message on the front, saying that the Duke has heard of his illness and that he hoped for a swift recovery.

But on the back was a poem by Emily Dickinson, “If I can stop one heart from breaking, I shall not live in vain; if I can ease one life the aching, or cool one pain, or help one fainting robin unto his nest again, I shall not live in vain.”

The teen smiled and put it on his nightstand as he continued to look through the basket.

Within the basket, he found all assortments of gourmet candies —particularly chocolate truffles of all varieties—, as well as recently published books and, most significantly in Astre’s opinion, a stuffed rabbit dressed a lord to accompany the butler one...


	8. Courtship

Narrator's POV

After Astre recovered from his cold, life continued as usual.

By the end of November, Vincent Phantomhive received a letter from Duke Crowther requesting that Astre come visit him and spend the week at his manor.

Vincent found that to be reasonable seeing that they were courting —assuming there would be chaperones to prevent scandalous  
behavior.

So, he relayed the message to his younger son that he would be spending the week with his suitor and would take his butler as a chaperone.

***

The next morning, Astre's bags were packed with his wardrobe for the week as well as anything else he would need.

Outside of the manor, a carriage parked outside where the mute driver waited for the two riders to arrive.

Sebastian hitched the luggage to the tip of the carriage after assisting Astre in.

He then signaled to the driver that they were ready and entered the carriage.

After a few minutes of comfortable silence as the carriage rolled away from Phantomhive Manor, the bluenette spoke, "Tell me, how's you set this all up?"

Sebastian smirked a bit, "And reveal all my secrets?"

Then he shrugged, "I found the ruins of an old building a few nights ago and repaired it into a suitable manor, and then I used a bit of magic to transform a wagon I found on the property into this carriage and turned a rat into our driver."

Astre looked shocked about that la sat part, "Y-You turned a rat into a person?"

"Yes and no. I gave the rat a shell of a human body, but it still is very much a rat. A rat with no thoughts, no speech, only capable of obeying my orders, and most significantly, it lacks a soul." Sebastian explained, "And the spell used for this is very exhausting so it'll only keep its shape until we arrive so I'll let go of the spell and it'll be a rat once more just as the horses will become toads."

Astre nodded, remembering one of the half dozen occasions when Sebastian whilst the teen was sick, "Oh. I see you've gotten inspiration from 'Cinderella'."

***

About half way through, Astre noted that Sebastian seemed to be tired.

That was strange to the blunette, the entire time he had known his lover, the man had never seemed tired or sick before so he began to worry about him.

Sebastian senses the worry and asked, "What's wrong, caelum mihi?"

Astre looked up at him from where his head was resting on his lap, "You seem tired, are you alright?"

Sebastian gulped and looked away, embarrassed, "I wasn't lying when I said this spell requires my concentration and I'm starting to feel tired. My magic is starting to drain as I grow hungry."

"When did you last eat?" Astre asked, having never seen him eat before either

Sebastian was silent for a second as he counted the time, "About seven years."

Astre looked shocked, before reminding himself that Sebastian was a demon so that meant he didn’t have the same diet as him, before relaxing again, “Then we should get you fed.”

“It’s ok, darling, I should be fine for another three years as long as I’m not seriously injured.” Sebastian soothed

Astre began to sit up, “Nonsense, you’re tired and you’re hungry, it’s my duty as your mate to remind you to take of yourself. I won’t have you neglecting your needs to comfort mine.”

Sebastian slightly smiled, what a truly wonderful mate he had.

“Now tell me, what do we need to do to feed you?” Astre asked

“I require a soul, preferably one of high quality. But until I gain access to one, I can be temporarily nourished with human blood. It won’t fill me as well as a soul, but it can be considered a ‘snack’ to hold my hunger at bay for awhile longer.” Sebastian explained

Astre blushed, “Would it hurt?”

“Would what hurt?” Sebastian asked

“If I let you feed from me, would it hurt?” Astre clarified

“I would be as gentle as possible, but yes, there would be a slight pain. Though, I could drown it out with pleasure as I fed from you.” Sebastian answered

That made the teen blush deeper as he removed the ribbon around his neck.

“What are you doing?” Sebastian asked

“Letting you feed from me.” The blushing boy replied

Sebastian chuckled a bit, “Oh darling, I’m very thankful for your offer but I’d rather not have our first time making love be in a carriage. I’d much prefer to deflower you in a proper bed with the proper supplies.”

Astre looked to the floor in embarrassment, “O-Ok.”

Sebastian kissed his head, “Though we can definitely get started when we arrive.”

***

The rest of the carriage ride was rather dull, the couple occasionally exchanging words as the rode the three hour carriage ride.

But when they arrived, they were greeted with the sight of the manor and its lush gardens.

The manor itself slightly resembled Phantomhive Manor as all the manors owned by nobility looked alike, but this one had a slight medieval flair.

The bricks were a dark grey, with its detailing all in a light grey.

When the carriage stopped, Sebastian assisted Astre out of the carriage and into the manor, the suitcases floating along behind them.

The last thing Astre noticed as Sebastian opened the dark wooden doors, was the carriage driver turn into a rat and scurry away, the horses doing the same as they turned into toads.

They made their way through the gorgeous manor, Sebastian giving a tour.

When they finally reached their bedroom, Sebastian picked his darling mate up and carried him to bed, kissing him passionately.

Astre softly moaned, parting his lips to give Sebastian access.

It didn’t take long for their clothes to be discarded, thoughtlessly tossed across the room.

Sebastian looked down at the precious sight of Astre, laid out like a feast for him.

Sin came naturally to demons and Sebastian was familiar was all seven of the deadly ones.

Lust was a sin he was experienced with, he had taken many lovers in his millennia of life —both men and women— but none, absolutely none of them held a candle to what Sebastian saw.

As Astre’s butler, he had seen the boy nude in hundreds of occasions, but never before in a sexual manner.

Now, with his beloved laid before him, his porcelain colored body I’ll instead only in moonlight, he looked like a sacrificial lamb just waiting to be devoured.

And ever the glutton, Sebastian delighted in the feast.

It didn’t take long for him to get the virginal human to the waves of pleasure, but before he brought him to his high, practically untouched, using only his slender fingers to prepare him and use his mouth to press kisses and leave hickeys everywhere clothing would hide, he removed everything.

Instantly, the pleasured boy whined at the loss.

Sebastian chuckled, teasing him a bit whilst remaining a generous lover, “Darling, have you forgotten your promise?”

Astre nodded slightly, unable to form words as his eyes were blown with lust.

The demon brought their lips together, then trialing his sinful lips down the the base of Astre’s neck.

He gently moved the choker up the slender neck and sunk his fangs into the base of Astre’s throat.

***

A few hours later, Sebastian presses a final kiss to Astre’s lips for their session.

They were both sticky —as well as sweaty in Astre’s case—, so Sebastian carried his exhausted lover into the bathroom.

It took half a second for him to get the water at the perfect temperature and barely two minutes for the tub to fill.

He stepped into the bath with Astre cuddled onto his lap, the fang wound on is neck long since healed into a scar.

Like always, Sebastian began to bathe his mate, talking with him while he did so.

“What did I taste like?” Astre asked, his neck still a bit sore

“Your blood tasted like your soul, absolutely addictive. Caelum mihi, your soul is of a rare type, one that could drive any demon mad with desire and hunger.” Sebastian answered

The blunette blushed at the compliment, as strange as it was, “I-Is there a way to describe the taste?”

“Not quite in human terms. Concepts are what a soul tastes like, bat an actual flavor, though some demons would beg to differ. The majority of souls are bland as they lead a boring life; but the more unique a life, the better the souls taste. To me, for example —though taste differs from demon to demon— the soul of a murderer tastes far better than say...a circus performer’s.” Sebastian answered, “Your soul howerver, if perfect in a different scale. Your brother’s for example smells good, most of my kind might even go as far to say delectable; but between the two of you, you are a filet mignon, he’s a pigeon breast. Your soul is easily worth two of his.”

Astre blushed deepened, “You still haven’t really explained the taste.”

“You, my love, taste of innocence with a darkness. A solar eclipse so to speak, with the welcoming taste of purity with a after-bite of wickedness. The most perfect soul I’ve ever had the pleasure of slightly tasting.” Sebastian said, metaphorically drooling

Astre smiled, kissing him, “How long will this snack last you?”

“A few months.” Sebastian answered 

Astre cuddled against him, “Then you’ll have to wait for your next taste.”

“The wait will be well worth it.” Sebastian sighed...


	9. Living Wildly

Narrator's POV

Sebastian didn't know why Astre was suddenly focused upon learning about souls, but he didn't want to deny him.

Preferably, Sebastian would rather spend the week making love to his darling and spoiling him rotten, but this is what Astre wanted.

And that's why he found himself running through a forest during the night with his mate in his arms.

They were heading to London, to go hunting.

When Astre first pitched the idea, Sebastian had insisted that his hunger wasn't that intense, that he could go without for a few more years.

But his stubborn mate had played a trump card: no kisses, no cuddles, and no sex until he ate a soul.

And well, that had easily broke Sebastian's already weak resolve.

Normally, the carriage ride to London would take four hours there and back, but for a demon running at full speed, it'd take little under an hour.

Sebastian supposed it was a good idea to start teaching his darling about being a demon now since he's be turning the boy into a demon as soon as he was allowed.

He had asked Astre to turn him years ago, but had been denied, the teen saying he wasn't ready to abandon his human life yet, so Sebastian was patiently waiting for a 'yes' to turn him.

After all, a year or five meant little to demons —barely felt like a week— but he understood that was a lot to a human so he wasn't in any rush.

***

The arrived in London around 9:20pm, not quite that late, seeing the streets were still sparsely busy, but the majority of the people were in their homes.

Sebastian walked down the streets with Astre beside him, both bundled in warm clothing since winter was beginning.

The butler hoped this little excursion didn't leave Astre sick again, but he also knew the bluenette was very headstrong and would refuse to be barred from something just because of his health.

Glancing down at said mate, Astre was wearing his fur-lined winter cloak as well as a thick jacket, gloves and several scarves as well as his highest set of boots with thick woolen stockings.

Sebastian himself, was wearing his standard uniform and the matching winter trench-coat over his tailcoat.

As a demon, he was aware of the temperature around him, but he couldn't feel it really unless he focused upon it and even then it wouldn't effect him.

"There." Sebastian thought as he smelled a dying soul

The demon turned into an alley, gently taking his mate's hand to lead him the correct way.

And just as Sebastian smelled, at the end of the alley, was a drunk —and presumably homeless— man asleep.

As winter had begun, it was lightly snowing, which was proven by the thin blanket of said snow covering the man.

He also noticed that his finger later were starting to turn blue with frostbite.

The man was dying, that much was certain, he's be dead by morning at this rate.

And with no reaper yet arrived it was a perfect time to smuggle this soul away; and seeing that this soul was above average due to the hardships in this man's life, it would keep him fed for at least ten years.

Leaning down, he pressed a kiss to Astre's uncovered blue eye, kissing the eyelid to allow him to see the supernatural phenomenon about to occur.

Sure, the demon only had to place his hand over his eye to do so, by why waste the opportunity to kiss his beloved?

Sebastian then turned back to the dying human, holding out his palm as the dark red soul emerged from the man's lips.

Astre watched in amazement as the crimson fog crystallized in Sebastian's hand, now resembling a ruby that a soul.

"Did you see, love?" Sebastian asked

Astre nodded, "Yes, I did. What does it smell like?"

"Pain, suffering, loss with a hint of his favored alcohol." Sebastian answered, unable to describe it in human terms

Popping it into his mouth, Sebastian ate it with gladness, feeling his strength return fully as his hunger was sated.

***

Back at Phantomhive Manor, another boy was looking to loose his virginity.

Lizzy’s has come over this afternoon to stay for the week.

And well, she was staying in the room across from him like always.

So, after he knew Simeon and Paula would be asleep, Ciel snuck across the hall and into Lizzy’s room.

Lizzy was sleeping, so Ciel gently shook her, “Lizzy’s, wake up.”

After a minute or two, Lizzy began to rise, “Is it morning already, Paula?”

“No, it’s me.” Ciel said

“Oh.” Lizzy said, blushing, “I-It’s not proper for us to be alone yet, Ciel, especially while we’re both so under dressed.”

“That’s why I came. I’d like to ravished you.” Ciel explained

Lizzy’s blush turned bright red, “We-We not supposed to until we wed.”

“We’re going to get married either way, what’s wrong with doing it a bit early?” Ciel said, “Is it not a wife’s job to please her husband?”

“I suppose.” Lizzy muttered

“Then let’s do it.” Ciel sai

“W-What if we c-conceive?” Lizzy said, scared of running their reputations

“We won’t.” Ciel insisted revealing a oiled silk condom, “I had Simeon get this for me.”

That soothed her a bit, “Are you certain, Ciel.”

“Absolutely.” The blue haired boy said, lifting up her pink nightgown

About half an hour later, they were exhausted and fixed their clothes, kissing one last time for the night as Ciel snuck back out of the room.

***

Back with Sebastian and Astre, they were just returning to Crowther Manor.

It had been a long day, especially for the human, but Astre refused to show that he was tired.

Though, it was impossible for him to lie to Sebastian, seeing that the choker told all, but he still insisted he wasn’t tired anyways.

Sebastian kissed him softky, “Caelum mihi, you’re exhausted, let’s get you to bed.”

Astre sighed, “Fine.”

It took barley a moment to get back up to their bedroom, another to get Astre undressed into a nightshirt and another to make a fire to warm the room.

And as hard as he proclaimed otherwise, Astre fell asleep the moment his head landed on the pillow.

He wasn’t very good at fooling his demon...


	10. Birthday Delight

Narrator's POV

December 14th arrived and Astre dreaded it.

Yes, he was happy that he was finally seventeen, years old, but what he truly wasn't looking toward to was the party.

Back when he and Ciel were still friends, he loved their birthday, they always had so much fun together.

But now, well, it's always depressing to be an unsung birthday boy.

Luckily, this year the snowfall was too thick for Lizzy to come, so that was a small victory.

And that's what had occupied so much of Astre's thoughts that he was awake before Sebastian even came to wake him up.

Sebastian wheeled in his tea cart, surprised to see his mate awake when he had just been here and saw him still asleep, "Good morning, my love."

Astre smiled at him, "Good morning."

Sebastian presses a kiss to his forehead and then his lips, "Happy birthday, caelum mihi."

Astre happily kissed back, then watching as Sebastian opened the curtains to his bedroom.

"Today I've prepared Earl Grey Crème." Sebastian informed, preparing the cup of tea exactly how the birthday boy liked it, "As well as a small lemon tart."

Astre smiled happily at the pre-breakfast treat, eating the lemon tart with it's deliciously tangy lemon curd, flaky crust and generous dusting of powdered sugar that gave it just enough sweetness to combat the tangy curd.

He then washed the treat down with his tea before getting dressed.

Sebastian began to dress his beautiful mate, stripping him and then clothing him in a frilly white undershirt, brown vest, navy blue shorts and matching jacket that has a flowing train that went down to the boy's knees.

Said jacket had a white interior and the knee-high black boots were laced with a cyan ribbon, matching ribbons were also tied around his waist and neck.

After all, Sebastian wanted Astre to look his best for his seventeenth birthday, since as of today he was now an adult.

***

Breakfast was pretty boring, being the same as usual with only Ciel greeting a 'happy birthday' from their parents, as if Astre wasn't even there.

After the morning meal, Astre sat reading in the library, while Sebastian just so happened to be dusting in there.

But, like tradition, the birthday party began before lunch.

So, the family of four were back in the dining room were seated while Simeon brought out a strawberry birthday cake that had seventeen candles on it.

The cake had pink frosting, with a few decorative swirls on top as well as a fresh strawberry on every swirl, there was a white chocolate drizzle around the sides of the cake and the bottom half of the sides were coated in sprinkles.

The beautiful cake was placed in front of the only celebrated birthday boy, and Ciel was quick to blow out the candles after being sung to by servants and their parents.

All the family members were served slices of the strawberry cake and enjoyed it.

After, the treat, Tanaka walked in with a giant stack of letters and placed it before Ciel, but before he walked away, the old man took the letter off the top and gave it to Astre.

Astre then opened the letter and was unsurprised to see who it was from: Duke Crowther.

The letter was pretty standard birthday well wishes, but Astre cherished it since at least someone bothered to wish him that.

While he waited for his brother to get through his stack of birthday cards, Astre remembered his last birthday.

***

On the twin’s sixteenth birthday, the snow wasn’t quite as heavy, resulting in Lizzy coming over to celebrate.

Like all of his birthdays, Astre was ignored by all except his butler.

He had spent the morning being tormented by his bullies and the afternoon watching Ciel open letters and gifts, he finally had a bit of time alone.

The blunette felt arms wrap around his waist and hug him, knowing it was Sebastian.

Sebastian dried away Astre’s tears and kissed him, “I could fix your problem, caelum mihi, you would just need to give the word.

“What would you do?” Astre asked

“I would kill your brother, make you the heir.” Sebastian explained

Astre shook his head, “No, I’m ok. He can be the heir, I have you.”

***

It took an hour for Ciel to get through all his cards, but once he was finally finished, he announced, "In Lizzy's letter, she told me that she and her family are going on a cruise-ship in February, I would like to go as well."

"Of course, son, let's make a family trip of it." Vincent said

"Yes, I haven't been to America since I was a young girl, that would be most exciting." Rachel agreed

Astre internally sighed, that sounded like fun, and he could probably escape Lizzy and Ciel on a ship that large.

***

After the birthday party, Astre sat in his bedroom, sketching in his journal when the door to his bedroom opened.

Expecting it to be Sebastian, Astre looked up, but was very surprised to see his mother.

Rachel came in and hugged him, "Happy birthday, Astre, dear."

She then gave him a gift, handing it to him.

Astre opened it and found a small music box, he wound it and heard the tune of "You Are My Sunshine".

The teen thanked her and she left, still winding the box to start the song again.

A few minutes after his mother left, the door to Astre's room opened again and Sebastian cane in with his cart that had two domed lids on it.

The first dome held his lunch, which the teen ate.

Once the mid-day meal was eaten, the second plate was placed in front of him.

Once the lid was removed, a rather large cupcake was revealed.

It was a chocolate cupcake that had chocolate pieces on it shaped like leaves, along with chiclet frosting shaped like roses.

There was a single candle on the cupcake, a single touch by Sebastian lit the wick and Astre listened with a blissful smile as he was sung to.

Once the song was over, he blew out the candle and kissed his lover.

The seventeen year old then ate the cupcake, loving the rich chocolate taste.

Sebastian knew he was probably spoiling Astre’s dinner with the amount of sweets he was giving him, but he didn’t care, it was a special day...


	11. Going on Holiday

Narrator's POV

A few weeks later, in early January, the Phantomhives —along with their four most essential servants— were walking along the docks in London, heading onto the ship called the 'Campania'.

The luxury ship was gorgeous as they entered through the First Class Passageway.

Before ling, a member of the staff showed them to their three separate rooms, each son getting their own suite.

Since they were adults, the twins were free to do as they pleased on the ship until they arrived in New York next week.

Ciel was happy to get out of England for almost a month; Astre was excited for that as well, but he was also looking forward to exploring New York, Sebastian had promised to take him to all the places he had been last time he had been there —given those places still existed.

After they settled into their rooms, the family then made their way towards the many rooms of their part of the ship where they found more of the nobility and wealthy.

Ciel quickly found Lizzy and her family, Vincent greeting his sister as well as everyone else.

Astre made his greetings, but wasn’t paid much mind.

He slipped away and found who he had been looking for: Duke Crowther.

Astre ‘greeted’ him, asking how he had been and other polite things, sitting with him at one of the many tables around the giant room.

The room itself was giant, as large as the ballroom at home, with tables lined with snacks while servers walked around with champagne and other drinks.

Sebastian, or rather Alexandre, had returned a slice of chocolate cake for his fiancé and had gotten two glasses of champagne he from a server.

While they seemed to be chatting like everyone else in the room, if one paid attention to their conversation you could hear otherwise.

“It’s so boring how they amuse themselves with the same boring drivel day after day.” Astre said, looking around the room

“Yes, it is an unfortunate side effect of polite society.” Sebastian agreed, “But we’ll have our fill of entertainment in New York, darling. The first thing I’ll do when we arrive in New York is buy us tickets to whatever is on Broadway, I believe it’s ‘Robin Hood’. I was an actor there once, back when it opened in the 1750’s, I was Prince Escalus in ‘Romeo and Juliet’ as well as Laertes in ‘Hamlet’.”

***

Later on that night, Ciel and Lizzy were sitting at their own table, eating strawberry and vanilla cake respectively, talking amongst each other while occasionally glancing towards Astre and Duke Crowther.

They both hated that Ciel’s spare was actually getting attention for once, so they plotted to get rid of that intrusion on Ciel’s spotlight.

For good.

***

A few days later, on the fourth day of their journey, Astre leaned against the railings of the First Class Deck, enjoying the brisk night’s air as he gazed out at the gorgeous ocean.

The night sky was so beautiful as it reflected on the water, resembling diamonds.

“Astre!” A voice behind him said

Turning around, the addressed teen saw his brother and his fiancée.

“What now?” Astre internally sighed, but actually saying, “Hello, can I help you?”

The pair smirked, Ciel saying, “Yes, yes you can.”

“What do you want?” The younger twin said, glancing around to se that they were alone

“Do us a favor and jump, it would make all of our lives easier.” Lizzy laughed

“W-What?” Astre scaredly asked, his back pressed against the railing

The couple walked closer to him, both grabbing one of his arms.

Try as he might, he couldn’t free himself from both of their grasps, he tried kicking at them, but when he manages to feed himself from one of his attackers the other was ready to keep him restrained.

While Lizzy and Ciel both had rather weak bodies from their wealthy lives, between the two of them, they managed to lift the flailing Astre over the railing and into the pitch black water below.

***

Astre was shivering in the icy water, trying to float as he clung to the life preserver.

He could see his own breath, it was so cold.

The teen had tried to call out for help, but his only reward has been a mouthful of saltwater from a wave.

Yet, he still tried again, “HELP!”

Astre’s voice was too weak, he was getting tired.

His body was growing weaker and weaker with every minute, his eye was beginning to droop closed.

The blunette s fought to stay awake but it was getting so hard, where was Sebastian?

Around the ten minute mark, his body completely gave out, he began to sink into the water; not hearing a nearly splash.

***

Sebastian felt Astre's fear through their bond, searching desperately for him.

As he approached the deck, he looked around for him but didn't see his precious heaven anywhere.

The demon stopped in his tracks as he realized another place Astre could be.

Looking down into the water, Sebastian could see his beloved clinging to a life preserver he had managed to grab on his fall down —the rope attacked to it still connected to the ship, preventing him from being left behind.

The waters were around -2°C (28.4°F), Astre would survive maybe fifteen minutes before falling unconscious in the freezing ocean.

He would die of either drowning or hypothermia if he didn't receive help quickly.

And seeing that Astre had a weak body and even weaker lungs, fifteen minutes was a generous time frame for survival.

Jumping over the rails, Sebastian dove into the dark sea below, his eyes glowing magenta as he breached the water.

He then swam as fast as he could towards Astre, seeing him starting to fall unconscious and sink beneath the water.

Grabbing Astre, Sebastian held him with one arm as he climbed back onto the ship with the other.

The demon then laid the human in the floor, tilting his head and pinching his nose before covering the smaller mouth with his, giving him CPR.

Astre gasped as he regained consciousness, spitting up the saltwater in his lungs.

"Se-Seb-Sebastian?" Astre asked, shivering from the cold

Sebastian gave him a small smile before rushing back to Astre's suite, stripping them both of their soaked clothing and heading straight for the tub, filling it with water as hot as Astre could stand.

Now that the near drowning was felt with, all Sebastian needed to worry about was the hypothermia and possible cold his sickly mate was bound to get from this.

He held Astre in his arms as they warmed up from the chilling Atlantic Ocean, paying close attention to Astre's breaths and heartbeat as they returned to normal.

While they sat in the water, Sebastian summoned a hot chocolate with lots of cream and helped the still trembling Astre drink it, warming his internal temperature back up...


	12. From Bad to Worse

Narrator's POV

After a few hours, Astre found himself rolled into bed with several blankets covering him to conserve his body heat.

Looking up, Astre saw Sebastian, this time dressed in his butler uniform rather than his Duke disguise, with a tray of tea and warm foods.

“I’ve brought you some peppermint tea, my darling.” Sebastian said, “As well as a Chocolate Lava Cake. Unfortunately, the only dining room still offering food at this time was Second Class, but I got you some clam chowder if you’d like to have it.”

Astre ate everything, starved from having missed dinner due to the murder attempt and his recovering body.

Once his stomach was full and his body was warm, Sebastian scooped his beloved into his arms and spoke to him, “What happened, beloved, how did you end up in the water?”

“I was stargazing and looking at the water, but Lizzy and Ciel found me and decided to toss me overboard.” Astre said, nuzzling against him, “I knew they were mean but I didn’t believe they were outright cruel. When I was in the water, I was so scared my body would give out before you could come, but you arrived just in time like always.”

Sebastian pressed a kiss to Astre’s head, hiding the fact his eyes were glowing magenta with anger, “Are you ready for me to kill them yet, my love?”

“No, I don’t want my first true family vacation to be stained by this. I just want to relax for a few weeks and we can discuss it further when we get back home.” Astre decided

The demon’s eyes eventually lost its glow and he tucked Astre back in for bed, “Good night, love, I’ll be back as soon as possible.”

Sebastian left the room, going to take the dishes down to the ship’s kitchen to be cleaned.

Whilst he was heading back to Astre’s room, he heard the most horrific screeching sound.

Quickly making his way to the nearest window, he saw that the right side of the ship had collided with an iceberg.

Rushing back to Astre’s room, he found the teen awake and looking out his bedroom window in confusion.

The blunette turned around, “What’s going on?”

“The ship has been struck and very likely sink if the proper measures aren’t taken care of. Let’s get you dressed in case the worst occurs.” Sebastian explained, rushing into Astre’s luggage

Soon, the tired boy was dressing in his black shoes, grey woolen stockings and black garters, black shorts, white button-up, grey vest and black overcoat with his winter cloak over him.

Holding Astre with one arm, Sebastian rushed towards the control room and found the captains gone and the window shattered: they had abandoned ship.

Mentally cursing, Sebastian found the blueprints and began to go over them.

If more than three of the five compartments filled, the ship would sink.

He put Astre down on the captain’s chair and told him to stay right there, he had to go see how many compartments had filled.

Using a mixture of demonic speed and shadowjumping, Sebastian found that indeed three compartments were filling and the travelers were all heading towards the lifeboats.

Hurrying back to the control center, he gathered Astre back in his arms and began to head towards the lifeboats.

As they hurried there, there was a loud crack and the deck straightened and they would have slid into the water if Sebastian hadn’t grabbed a rail.

“W-What’s going on?” Astre fearfully asked as they watched people and objects fall into the water

“The ship is sinking rapidly and we aren’t going to make it to a lifeboat like this. We’re going to have to swim to one.” Sebastian said, assessing the situation

“Going back to the water, but that’s suicide!” Astre exclaimed, not having seen anyone who’d fallen into the water emerge

“Hold onto as tightly as you can, shimmy as much as you can to my back and wrap you legs around my waist.” Sebastian said, waiting until his mate did as told

Once they were in position, Sebastian continued to explain the plan, “I’m going to let go, so close your eyes. When I say ‘now’ I need you to take a deep breath because we’d be about to land in the water. Then you are going to open your eyes and make sure you keep your head above water, push me down if you have to; I don’t need air. I’ll get us to a lifeboat.”

“O-Okay.” Astre scaredly said, closing his eyes

“I’m letting go in 3...2...1!” Sebastian said, letting go of the rail at ‘1’, sliding on his stomach down the deck, once he saw them get about ten feet from the harsh sea, he yelled, “NOW!”

He heard Astre take a gulp of air as they crashed into the unforgiving ocean.

The demon immediately began to swim towards the surface, his mate immediately gasping for air as they reached it.

Sebastian then began to swim towards the nearest lifeboat, occasionally feeling Astre push him down in order to stay above water.

Once there, he jumped onto the lifeboat and set Astre down, seeing one other passenger on board, who, on examination, had a heart attack and died.

So, it was just them and a corpse on this life boat.

***

A few minutes later, Astre had been all but stripped and wrapped up in the dead man’s dry clothes, but the majority of him was still wet and freezing.

"I'm so tired." Astre shivered, laying down on the seat of the lifeboat, "I want to take a nap."

"No, no." Sebastian said, his eyes widening in fear, "Don't go to sleep, you won't wake up if you do. Focus on my voice, I'll tell you a story, just listen and conserve your energy and do not fall asleep."

Sebastian racked his brain for an interesting story to share, anything boring or familiar to his mate might end up lulling him to sleep.

He scooped Astre up in his arms, trying to offer his body heat as well as monitor his heartbeat and breathing, "A few centuries ago, back in 1530, was my first time in England. Most of my life at that point, I traveled through Asia and the Continent. But, one afternoon, I found myself summoned by none other than King Henry the Eighth. This was before his jousting accident, mind you, so he was yet to take on the gluttonous form you've seen in your textbooks."

That earned a small chuckle from Astre, though it was rather weak and Sebastian's heart was metaphorically starting to race, he casted glancing around past the life boats to see if any rescue was coming.

There wasn't.

"And, he was very surprised to have summoned me, as he was a very religious man, but he was quick to decide on his wishes. He wanted me to make sure he received a male heir as he had only a daughter and he wanted to divorce his wife, Catherine of Aragon. As you can tell, things didn't work out." Sebastian said, still looking for any sign of help, "Back at the time, divorce was extremely hard to be granted, especially for royals, but I kept on writing to the Pope, once even going to see him myself at the Vatican to explain, showing why Henry's marriage to Catherine wasn't legitimate but he wouldn't budge because he was deep in the pocket of the Holy Roman Empire, and the Emperor at the time was Catherine's nephew. So I suggested to Henry to separate England from the church so he could grant himself a divorce."

"Y-You did that?" Astre asked, amazed

"I did, caelum mihi, though I beg you to focus on heating your body, I'll answer every question you have once you're safe." Sebastian pleaded, holding Astre's hand in his and trying to heat them with his breaths, "So after he separated England from the church, he quickly sent Catherine away to a nunnery and married Anne Boleyn, his mistress at the time. But poor Anne had only a daughter and eventually Henry was tired of her and all her miscarriages and made up a tale about her cheating on him and sentenced her to death. He then married Jane Seymour and at last had the son he wanted, and she died in childbirth. But, when I was preparing to take my due, I learned that newborn Prince Edward was sickly, Henry decided that the contract wasn't fulfilled until he had a healthy son. So he moved onto his fourth wife, Anne of Cleves. Your textbooks told you that he sent her away because of her looks, they lied just like him, she was a beautiful young woman, but she accidentally rejected him. When she arrived in England, she was heading to see him but Henry decided —against my suggestion— to dress up as a commoner and try to seduce her. Now imagine an ugly, fat, smelly homeless man trying to proposition you for sex when you just arrive in an unfamiliar world so he obviously rejected him. But, Henry and his fragile ego had enough and decided to say she was ugly and the portraits lied to him. But Anne was smart and just let the divorce happen and walked away very rich from the divorce settlement and outlived him."

"He sounds like an idiot." Astre commented, shivering

"He was, my darling, but please conserve your energy." Sebastian insisted, nearly sighing with relief when he saw a boat in the distance, "Well, wife number five, Katherine Howard, she was your age when she married him and he was nearly fifty. And by this time, this sleazy old pervert was quite the alcoholic and often lashed out verbally at his young wife because he was convinced it was his wives' fault he had no healthy heir. And it certainly didn't help that she was blackmailed into having an affair and ended up being executed for that. But, by the time he married his final wife, Catherine Parr, he was old and sickly, and it was getting clearer by the day that he wasn't going to live long enough to have another son so I cut it off and took my earning."

Just as he finished his story, the boat was beginning to pick up the survivors...


	13. The Engagement Ball

Narrator's POV

Around a month after the disaster on the Campania, after Astre suffered through another round with a cold, the Phentomhives were invited to another costume ball.

Though, unlike the Samhain Ball, this ball was hosted by Duke Crowther for reasons unknown.

Well, unknown to all except for the Duke, Earl Phantomhive and Astre.

Astre was going to be publicly proposed to, the ball was being held to celebrate that and the theme was to honor how they 'met'.

Knowing this, Astre was once again dressed up as a demon, though he wore a different costume.

Unlike his grander costume from last time, this one was simpler and designed to give him a devilish innocence.

He wore a plum colored blouse that had a white bib-like collar that tied around his neck with a white and black striped ribbon, but the blouse itself was tied around his waist with a long violet ribbon —both of which were ripped up towards the bottom—, he also wore black shorts over white and plum spiraled stockings that left non of his skin exposed, additionally he wore black gloves that went all teh way up his arm —though you couldn't tell that due to the long puffy sleeves of his blouse— as well as plum and black heeled boots, black demon horns and a plum tail.

This time, Ciel was dressed not as a pirate, but as a skeleton, wearing a suit with a matching black top-hat adorned with a white bow whilst his skin was painted lightly to emphasize his skeletal shape.

Rachel, this time was dressed as Cleopatra and Vincent as Julius Caesar.

***

A few days before, Duke Crowther pair a visit to Earl Phantomhive a few hours after lunch.

They met within the Earl's office and, as was custom, Duke Crowther asked for permission to propose to Astre.

The permission was granted and a dowry of £10,000 was agreed upon.

***

Upon arrival to Crowther Manor, Astre saw it more packed than he had ever seen it before and judging by the amount of servants bustling around he hoped Sebastian wouldn't get tired.

Once the family was brought inside, they immediately found him selves greeted by their host —who was once again dressed as a vampire.

"Good evening." 'Alexandre' greeted to the family, then turning to Astre and kissing his hand, "How are you this evening?"

Astre smiled and followed him away from his family, on his arm as he greeted other guests.

As the party progressed, dancing began and, obviously, the host and his fiancé were the center of attention.

In the center of the dance floor, Duke Crowther and Astre danced beautifully.

Even though the bluenette was messing up half the steps and constantly stepping in his partners feet, their dance looked far more exciting than the robotic movements of the rest of the dancers who were dancing perfectly.

As the dance continued, the dancers eventually tired and began to disassemble for refreshments.

While sipping at some rosé wine, Astre sat at one of the many tables littering the sides of the room with Sebastian.

"Alors, comment avez-vous mis cela ensemble?" Astre asked (So, how'd you put this together?)

"Avec le retour de ma pleine puissance, il était facile de gérer autant de rats. Il n'y en a que vingt." Sebastian replied (With my full power returned it was easy to manage this many rats. There's only twenty of them.)

"Vous ne vous sentez donc pas fatigué du tout?" Astre asked, wanted to be clarified (So you aren't feeling tired at all?)

"Non, mon amour, je ne suis pas fatigué. Je ne peux ressentir de l'épuisement que lorsque je suis vorace." Sebastian answered, stroking Astre's hand in his (No, my love, I am not tired. I can only experience exhaustion when I am ravenous.)

"D'accord." Astre said (Okay.), smiling softly at him, "J'imagine qu'il y aurait une crise si ces crétins découvraient un jour des rats à leur service. Il convient aux rats de servir des rats." (I imagine there would be a fit if these morons ever discovered rats were serving them. It's suitable for rats to be serving rats.)

"En effet, ça l'est." Sebastian agreed, chuckling (Indeed it is.)

***

Across the room, Ciel was furious.

All of his life, no matter what social gathering he went to, he had always been the center of attention.

After all, he was the heir to one of the richest families in England, the future Queen's Watchdog!

Everyone paid attention to him! Not his stupid sickly spare!

But, yet, the universe seemed to be confused since Astre had all the attention tonight.

Growling softly, Ciel walked over to his younger twin once the later was finally alone —Lizzy, who was dressed like a ghost, following dutifully behind him.

Once they arrived at the refreshment table, where Astre was picking up a few hors d'oeuvres to snack upon.

Astre sighed when he saw them, "I already know what you're going to say, Ciel, something about stealing your spotlight and then you'll threaten me; save it. You've had your entire life in the spotlight, I think I'm entitled to two days. The only 'spotlight' I want is tonight and my wedding day, and then it's all yours and I'll be out of your hair forever."

That's when Ciel realized what tonight was: Astre was going to get proposed to.

That wasn't fair! He had been betrothed to Lizzy since birth and yet his spare had been in courtship for less than a year and yet was getting engaged first!

Now livid, Ciel reacted in anger and grabbed his twin by the throat, pressing his nails against Astre's neck, growling, "If you keep this up, the only day in the spotlight you'll be getting is your funeral!"

And that's when Ciel heard a gasp beside him, turning he saw an older woman staring at him.

Looking around, there was at least twenty people staring at him attacking his brother, and the rapid whispering drew in everyone else's attention.

Vincent and Rachel quickly made their way through the crowd and separated the twins.

Rachel —as well as Duke Crowther— made sure Astre was alright while Vincent dragged Ciel away.

Once they were out of the ballroom, Vincent let his anger out, "How dare you attack your brother! You are no longer a child, so stop acting like one! You have just sullied the family name by causing this scandal, especially in front of several of my business partners, they might retract their agreements with me now because of you! Go sit in the carriage and wait for us to try and repair our reputation."

Vincent then returned to the party and Ciel was sent away to the carriage like the naughty child he was.

***

Back within the ballroom, Vincent and Rachel were apologizing frantically to the other guests, saying they didn't know what came over their son and that he must be intoxicated.

And while the scandal was a minor one, seeing that Astre hadn't been hurt beyond being frightened, but it would permanently but a taint on his once flawless reputation.

Honestly, what hurt his reputation more than the attack was the speculated public drunkenness.

Meanwhile, Lizzy was very mad, at Astre in particular.

It's not like Ciel hurt him, and yet that idiot was playing the victim.

Her sweet Ciel was the true victim with the way his reputation had been tarnished!

Looking at the one-eyed blunette, Lizzy saw how people were fawning over him and giving their sympathies.

She was disgusted, how did anyone even acknowledge the inferior twin?

As soon as Astre had once again been left alone, Lizzy walked up to him.

"How dare you get Ciel in trouble!" The blonde girl demanded

"He got himself in trouble. If he didn't want to cause a scene he shouldn't have attacked me." Astre shrugged, sipping at his drink, "But, this act is getting rather annoying?"

"What act?" Lizzy asked with a huff

"The act you're pulling for my brother, you can truly think he's the most amazing thing to exist. After all, you and me know better than anyone that he's just an entitled brat." Astre explained

"There. Is. No. Act." Lizzy said, "And Ciel is amazing, far better than Asthmatic Astre."

"Sooo original." Astre said, rolling his eye, "Make fun of the illness I inherited from my mother when your precious Ciel could've inherited it as well."

Lizzy was shocked, usually Astre never fought back and just took the words, "Well, uh, no one actually likes you, they're just kissing up to you to get to the Duke."

"Obviously." Astre said, "I know how the political game works, Lizzy, I'm not an idiot like you, Ciel and your goons seem to claim. I've counteracted my weak body with a strong mind."

Lizzy was stunned, not knowing what to say.

Astre shook his head at her, "Honesty, cousin, I pity you. You've been delusioned just as much as everyone else has been by my brother. Just look at yourself, your entire personality is being obsessed with cute things and my brother. You used to love fencing and hunting and yet you've abandoned that because he wants a submissive wife."

"W-What." Lizzy mumbled

"You see, when you're as lonely as me, you have a lot of free time to just observe others. You act like your blissful with him when I bet the real you is as miserable as me around him. He's a leech, Lizzy, save yourself while you still can. You're not married yet, there would be no scandal of divorce if you're swift and convince your parents to brake off the betrothal." Astre advised

"You're lying!" Lizzy fumed, "I love him! You're just playing the victim!"

Astre didn't reply to her rampage, just letting her burn herself out.

Well, you couldn't say he didn't warn her; if she didn't mind being leeched on, that was her problem.

But before Astre could stand and walk away, Lizzy slapped him harshly, causing a smack so loud it sounded like a broken glass.

The loud sound attracted the attention of all the guests yet again and it didn't take much to guess what happened due to the large redness on Astre's cheek.

Lizzy stares at her hand in horror as she realized she too caused scandal.

It didn't take long for her mother to rush up and drag her outside.

***

A hour or so later, the ball was nearing its end so the Duke tapped against a wineglass, gathering attention.

“If I may have your attention for a few moments, I’d like to make an announcement.” Duke Crowther said

The man then turned towards Astre, going into his knee as he pulled a small box from his pocket, “Astre Lune Phantomhive, will you marry me?”

Those closest to the couple could see the white gold ring and its three stones, an amethyst, a white diamond and a sapphire.

“Yes.” Astre smiled, extending his left hand

The beautiful ring was slid onto his appropriate finger, standing out against his black gloves.

As kissing in public as well as hugging was frowned upon, they held hands instead.

Dozens of women cooed over the beautiful ring and men congratulated ‘Alexandre’ on his future bride...


	14. An Unwelcome Guest

Narrator's POV

After the ball, Astre spent the week with at his fiancé's home without chaperone.

But, when the week came to an end, Astre found himself being taken home in the Duke's carriage, a rat footmen driving it back to Phantomhive Manor.

As the carriage entered the woods, Astre heard a commotion outside and saw two people attacking the footmen.

The first attacker was a man with orange hair who wore an outfit similar to any gentleman, save for the fabric's pattern, which resembles a checkerboard for his vest with purple jacket and yellow bow around his neck.

The second attacker was a woman with short, curly black hair who wore a black corset-like shirt that left her cleavage exposed as well as black shorts, fishnet stockings and gloves and leather boots; she also had red scarf tied around her waist to make an illusion of a skirt as well as a matching red headband.

Being distracted by the woman attacking the footman with a whip, Astre didn't even notice the man pick him up until he was in the air.

A cloth coating in what he presumed to be chloroform clamped over his mouth and nose, making the seventeen year old pass out.

***

Groaning, Astre woke up in a plush bed.

Sitting up as he rubbed his eyes, he realized he wasn't in his bedroom at home nor at Crowther Manor.

Looking down, he also found himself wearing a sailor's costume similar to the ones he and Ciel frequently wore as children —when they liked being twins.

He wore a white blouse that had a blue sailor's collar and sleeves, as well as a red handkerchief around it, blue shorts as well as black stockings and garters as well as shoes.

Immediately panicking, he sighed in relief when he found his engagement ring still on his left hand and his mating choker around his neck.

Astre then noticed that he was seeing with two eyes, but a quick turn retrieved his eyepatch, which he put back on.

The blunette walked towards the door, but found it locked so he went to the window.

It was locked as well, and even if it wasn't he found that he was one the second or third floor with no bush below him to break his fall, all he would do is harm himself.

At least he now knew it was night, so that was something.

He just needed to lay low and wait for Sebastian to come rescue him.

Which was easier said than done when the door to his room was opened to reveal one of his kidnappers, the woman.

She told him to follow her and led him down the stairs and through the halls to a dining room.

Within the room, the male kidnapper was there as well.

The black haired woman instructed him to sit at the table and Astre found himself waiting to meet his true kidnapper.

***

The door to the dining room was closed, but Astre heard the handles begin to open.

Once it was open, it revealed a blank-faced girl that resembled younger Lizzy as well as a blank-faced boy that looked like a younger Ciel who were pushing a man on a wheelchair.

The man was hideous, his bald head was so covered stitches his features were barely recognizable, his torso was completely covered in bandages under his dress shirt and suit jacket, the only thing about him that looked normal were his legs which were covered in brown slacks and black shoes.

"C-Ciel Phantomhive, you came!" The man happily said as he was wheeled in, "Oh, it's like a dream to have you so close to me! I'm embarrassed to meet you looking like this."

"Who are you?" Astre asked, annoyed that he had been mixed up for his brother

"I-I'm Baron Thomas Kelvin but please don't be formal, it makes shy, please call me 'Tom'." The man adoringly said, ringing a bell, "I've prepared a feast for you!"

Blank faced children dressed as maids and butlers came in carrying trays of food.

The man that had captured him began to pour red wine into a serving glass as Kelvin said, "Its a 1875 vintage wine from the year you were born!"

Astre watched as the broken children served both of them soup and plated a tray of lobsters.

The teen looked on in disgust as the ugly man ate a lobster in a few bites, shell and all.

Suddenly, Kelvin exclaimed, "Oh! A meal without entertainment must bore you, Ciel! Joker, Beast, put on your show!"

"B-But-" The woman Astre guessed was Beast began

"F-Father-" The other kidnapper, which Astre guessed was Joker started

"Just do it." Kelvin growled at them

The two circus performers gulped and went onto the stage, the male stepping into the spotlight to begin the performance, "Welcome, Ciel Phantomhive! Tonight we'll take thee to a world of thrilling entertainment!"

The ringleader then pointed to a group of emotionless children all dressed up as circus performers as well.

Astre watched in horror as the children were forced to do various performances, from walking tightrope and slipping and breaking their necks to being eaten alive by the lion they were suppose to tame.

All the while, the Baron laughed in amusement as clapped with every death while his 'children' looked extremely disgusted.

The bluenette felt vomit rise up his throat as he watched the destroyed children clean up each other's corpses and continue on the show.

By the time the knife thrower began throwing knives at the girl on the cross, hitting her right between her unblinking eyes, Astre vomited onto the table.

The baron looked at Astre in shock, "W-Was the show not pleasing, Ciel? Joker, Beast, clean this up at once!"

"I'm not Ciel, I'm Astre." Astre shouted, wiping his face with one of the napkins in front of him

That seemed to shock the baron, "W-What? Y-You're not Ciel? Y-You're the spare?"...


	15. Dollhouse

Narrator's POV

Hours earlier, Sebastian was waiting for Astre's return at Phantomhive Manor; the demon had arrived several hours earlier, having run ahead, but when his mate wasn't back after six hours on the road, he got worried.

So, he snuck out and began running back towards Crowther Manor to see what had happened —perhaps one of the carriage's wheels had broken?

As he neared the forest, he found the carriage tipped over and the driver dead.

Looking around, he didn't see Astre, so he turned towards the bond and began to track his location.

***

Back in the present, Astre was staring at the insane baron, who was currently screaming at his 'children' about getting the wrong twin.

Whilst the blunette was observing the man verbally abuse the two circus performers, he heard the front door slam open.

Barely a few seconds later, the door to the dining room slammed open as well and in came Sebastian.

"Who are you?!" Kelvin screamed at the demon, his stitched up face beet red

Sebastian gave his trademark devilish smirk, "I'm a butler for the Phantomhive Family."

Before the man could yell at his wards to attack the butler, butter knives and forks were lodged in their hearts and throats, leaving the crippled man alone.

Astre quickly found himself scooped up and being carried braids style in Sebastian's arms.

Cuddling closer to his rescuer, Astre kissed his cheek as Sebastian began to head out of the room.

Kelvin gasped lightly when he saw that, thinking, "Even lowly servants are allowed in that wondrous world of roses and thorns which eludes me still. I am still not a man worthy of their attention."

He looked towards Beast and Joker's bleeding corpses, even they had been beautiful enough to be a part of that darkness, yet he wasn't even worth being killed by the beautiful people.

"Wait!" Kelvin screamed at them, making Sebastian stop as he approached the dining room door

The demon looked back at the pathetic man, his eyes glowing magenta, "What?"

"Give me the same glorious death they had!" The disgusting man pleaded

Turning fully around, Sebastian shifted Astre slightly so he was being held with one hand and used his free hand to pull the crippled man out of his wheelchair.

Kelvin hit the floor with a loud crack, his bone-china legs shattering.

Groaning softly, the insane man smiled and laughed as the butler's shoe slammed into his head, killing him.

***

Vincent Phantomhive was staring out the window of his office when he saw his younger son get carried in by his butler.

Huh, he hadn't even noticed he hadn't arrived from his fiancé's home yet.

That's when he noticed something dripping from the edge of the butler's tailcoat: it looked like blood.

Had his son gotten into trouble?

If he had, how did the butler know anything was amiss if he had been here?

***

After giving Astre a well needed bath and tucking him in, Sebastian began the rest of his nightly routine and was walking towards his quarters when Tanaka, the head butler, stopped him.

"How can I help you, sir?" Sebastian politely asked

"The Earl wishes to speak with you." Tanaka answered, "He is in his office."

"Of course, sir." Sebastian said, walking towards the office, wondering how he'd caught the man's attention

Knocking lightly on the door, Sebastian waited for permission before opening the door and walking in, kneeling in front of his employer, "You wished to speak with me, my lord?"

"Yes, I've been reviewing my file of you and I've noticed a few discrepancies." Vincent answered, flipping open the file

"I'm sure I can clarify anything wrong, my lord." Sebastian replied, standing

"It states that you attended L'académie de Majordome in Paris but I called to verify and they said you have never been enrolled in their school." Vincent started

Sebastian mentally cursed but opened his mouth to speak but was cut off, "Additionally, your file states that you were born in London in 1863, but I called the Bureau of Census and there is no record of your birth; according to the government you don't exist."

Sebastian tried to speak again, but was once again interrupted by Vincent, "So, that leads me to believe that you are not at all who you say you are. What are you planning? Who are you truly working for?"

Sebastian sighed, knowing his cover had been lost, so he turned his neutral expression into a smirk, “Who I am depends on Astre. I am who he needs me to be. For the time being, I am his faithful servant, ready to tend to him and take care of his needs. When he wishes my role to change it will; and if that new role includes executing you, your wife and your brat of an heir that is up to him as well. Astre is my purpose, my light, my religion.”

Vincent was shocked, barley managing to even blink and breathe, once he regained his composure he hissed, “Get out. You’re fired.”

Sebastian raised an eyebrow, questioning how Vincent thought he could just send him away, “I will discuss your request with my master.”

***

Leaving the room without another word, Sebastian walked towards Astre’s room.

The demon was surprised to see Astre awake and reading a book.

“Couldn’t sleep.” Astre mumbled, closing his book

“Your father has relieved me of my duties; I have been fired.” Sebastian informed him

“W-What?” Astre exclaimed, shocked

The teen began tearing up, “No, he can’t do this!”

Sebastian kneeled down, wiping away his tears with his glove, “Don’t worry, caelum mihi, if he thinks he can get rid of me then he has no idea what’s coming up next.”...


	16. A Series of Multiple Deaths

Narrator's POV

When Astre woke the next morning, Sebastian was there to wake him like he was everyday.

Even fired, nothing would stop him from fulfilling his duties to his beloved.

But before he could begin helping his darling begin the day, the door to Astre's bedroom was opened and Sebastian retreated into the shadows.

"Tanaka?" Astre asked, pretending to be surprised, "Where's Sebastian?"

The grandfatherly old man gave a weak smile, "Your father thought it best to replace him. A new butler has been hired for you and he will arrive shortly after breakfast."

"Oh, okay." Astre softly said, frowning as he was dressed for the day

Once dressed, Astre was given a cup of Earl Grey tea that had far too little sugar in it and taken down to breakfast.

At breakfast, Astre acted sad that Sebastian had been fired after being 'informed' by his father.

After a rather dull meal, the blunette was introduced to his new butler, Wilfred.

Wilfred was an older gentleman, probably in his late fifties or early sixties; he showed signs of once having thick black hair but it was now a salt and pepper grey.

And as they say went on Wilfred showed that he was good at his job with one major flaw.

He was extremely clumsy.

That clumsiness was shown when he served Astre his lunch.

Said teen was sitting in the library, reading a book whilst talking to Sebastian who was hiding in the shadows.

Wilfred pushed his cart into library, his young master's lunch sitting upon the cart as well as a small pitcher of lemonade and a glass.

The older man was confused when he heard the teen speaking, and could've sworn he heard another voice as well but didn't dwell on it.

"We're you speaking with someone sir?" Wilfred asked, stopping his cart in front of the one-eyed boy

"No, just reading aloud." Astre answered boredly

"Okay. I've brought your luncheon, young master." Wilfred replied, lifting the dome off of the plate, “I’ve brought you steamed haddock with a bit of lemon butter as well as a bed of roasted vegetables. To drink I’ve also brought some sparking lemonade.”

Sebastian scowled when he saw the beverage: Astre disliked normal lemonade, he much preferred pink lemonade that had more strawberry juice than lemon so it wouldn't be as bitter.

Any butler worth his salt should know his master's preferences.

Wilfred began to pour a glass of the lemonade and began to place it on the table in front of Astre, but accidentally dropped the cup and spilled its contents all over the blunette.

Sebastian growled ehh he saw how wet Astre’s clothes were, stepping out of the shadows and grabbing Wilfred by the neck.

He then snapped his neck and dropped the body like a sack of flour, dusting off his hands before helping Astre clean up.

Before long and a bit of magic later, he was all dry and his clothes weren’t sticky, and the lemonade was given a strawberry flavor.

Astre was eating his meal, not at all concerned with the corpse not even ten feet away as Sebastian staged the death to look like the clumsy man had fallen down the stairs and snapped his neck on the way down.

***

After Wilfred’s unfortunate accident, Vincent hired another butler to tend to his youngest son.

This one was a slightly younger man probably in his mid-forties named Horace.

Horace had vibrant red hair with strands of grey sprinkled in, giving away his age as well as a thick mustache.

As the day went on, Horace proved he was a rather capable butler but his flaw was rather unnoticeable to all but Sebastian, who kites everything.

Especially the rather vulgar glances the man gave Astre when the latter wasn’t looking.

Those glances made Sebastian’s blood boil, Astre was his and he was a very jealous man.

But he was also patient, so he waited until after dinner, when Astre was preparing for his nightly bath to strike.

Horace was beginning to help Astre strip to get into the bath —which was far too hot for his delicate skin, something even the most novice butler should know.

Sebastian noticed the ginger lick his lips as Astre’s button-up was removed, leaving his creamy chest bare.

So, before Astre’s shorts could be removed as well, Sebastian stepped out of the shadows and grabbed the pervert away.

The man sputtered in confusion, “W-Who are you?”

Sebastian’s red eyes burned magenta, “I’m the one who’s job you have stolen.”

Horace gulped as he dragged towards the window of Astre’s bedroom.

A quick glance proved no one was outside so he opened the window and tossed the human out and onto the rosebush below.

The beautiful silver petals of the flowers were stained red as the pervert bled out on the thorns.

Sebastian then returned to the bathroom, finishing stripping Astre and placing him into tub —which had cooled down to the proper temperature by then.

The next morning, about a half hour before it was time for him to be woken, Astre was pulled out of sleep by a loud scream.

He scrambled out of bed and looked out his window, seeing a Gardner had discovered Horace’s body.

***

After Horace was discovered dead, his death ruled a suicide, and Vincent hired yet again another butler.

This one was a man called Maurice, who had light brown hair and seemed to be in his early thirties.

Maurice was a very kind man, as well as a new father.

He had told Astre about his family back home in London and how his wife had given birth to their second child just a few months ago and how he got this job to better support them.

He was very good at his job, very hardworking and over all had no major flaws besides being a bit unrefined, which was to be expected as he had never been a domestic servant before.

Maurice explained that he had spent the majority of adult and teenage years working in a canning factory but as his family grew so did the cost of maintaining it so he had to suffer being away from them to support them.

“You’re children are very lucky to have a father as loving as you.” Astre said as he was handed his cup of tea, muttering under his breath as he added, “I wish my father was as caring.”

“I’m sure he cares about you, he’s a busy man.” Maurice sympathetically said

Astre shook his head, “My father gives me everything I want, that’s true, everything...besides his time.”

Maurice offered a comforting smile, “Well, I can be your friend.”

“I’d like that.” Astre smiled, “I’ll talk to you later, then.”

“We shall.” Maurice agreed, walking away to get some of his other chores done

Once the door was closed, Astre turned to the shadows where he knew Sebastian was watching, “Don’t kill him, please, send him away.”

He didn’t physically see Sebastian but his voice was heard, “Fine.”

Astre smiled and blew a kiss to the shadow.

That night, when he was tucked into bed, Maurice was surprised to see Astre already undressed and holding a small bag.

Astre handed the bag to him, “This should be worth a year’s wages, if not more.”

Opening it, Maurice found nearly a hundred pounds inside, “I-I can’t accept this, young master, it’s far too generous.”

“I’m not giving you a choice, Maurice, it’s yours.” Astre said, “But you must leave.”

“What? Why?” Maurice asked, confused

“The reason why is personal, but I don’t want you to die; you’re a good man and the world needs more people like you. Maybe in another life you could’ve been my butler, but it’s not going to work out in this one. Just know, I would’ve been honored to have a man like you as my father.” Astre said as Sebastian walked out of the shadows

Maurice found himself grabbed and teleported into a forest a few miles away.

“Leave, go back to London and never return.” Sebastian said threateningly

“I-I will.” Maurice stuttered, scared, “T-Tell the young master that I would’ve been h-honored to have a son like him.”

“I will.” Sebastian replied, “Now go.”

Sighing, Maurice made his way into the wilderness and back to his home, thinking of how he could explain this to his wife...


	17. Yin and Yang

Narrator's POV

The following morning, after Maurice was discovered to have disappeared in the night, Vincent received a letter from Duke Crowther saying he was coming to visit in order to beginning wedding planning.

Sighing, Vincent knew he was going to be even more stressed today with all the Butler’s dying and now with Crowther coming to visit.

So, after breakfast, the Duke arrived resulting in him, Astre, the Earl and Rachel to be in the Earl’s office with a few dozen wedding catalogues Rachel had been collecting for such an occasion.

Unfortunately for the busy Earl, these preparations took all day as things down to itty-bitty details such as flower arrangements were discussed and decided upon.

Because of the late hour it took for their business to conclude, Vincent invited Crowther to spend the night as protocol demanded.

***

During that same night, Ciel was sleeping peacefully in bed when he felt a hand on his leg.

Slightly opening his eyes while pretending to still be asleep, he saw Simeon with one hand on his leg and his other hand hidden inside the front of his pants, seemingly jerking off.

Careful to move slowly and not draw attention, Ciel got the pocket-knife from under his pillow.

After doing that, he lunged for the man and stabbed him, not noticing that the location he stabbed him was in the heart.

Once he caught his breath, Ciel noticed that Simeon had stopped breathing.

Panicking, the blue-eyed teen raked his blood-covered fingers through his hair and began to think: his damaged social life was over if this was discovered.

An idea immediately popped into his head: maybe Astre could help him hide the body.

Sure he'd owe his brother a favor or two or twelve but it'd be worth it in order to successfully hide the corpse.

So, he pulled on a pair of shorts under his blood soaked shirt and ran across the hall to Astre's room, not even bothering to knock.

The frazzled heir shook his twin awake, "Astre, wake up."

The younger twin yawned and reached for his eyepatch, "What do you want, it's the middle of the night?"

"I-I just killed Simeon on accident and I have no idea what to do with the body. You've got to help me, Astre." Ciel explained, clearly overwhelmed

"Fine, I'll help you." Astre said as he tied on his eyepatch, "Give me a second to get a pair of shorts and a scarf on. I'll meet you in your room."

Ciel nodded and left.

Once the elder twin was gone, Sebastian emerged from his hiding place in the shadows and dressed him, "It's time to begin our plan, love."

"I know." Astre softly replied as his shoes were laced —sloppily to look like he had been the one to tie them

***

Just as promised, Astre met his brother in the latter's room, "What happened?"

"I don't know, he was molesting me and I attacked him in defense and now I just want to get tonight over with." Ciel muttered, "How are we going to get the body outside without being seen?"

Astre looked out Ciel's window, seeing a normal bush down below, "Toss the body out onto the bush and then sneak out through the kitchen's delivery door."

Ciel took Simeon's feet and Astre got his arms after opening the window and working together they barely managed to walk the six feet and toss the body outside.

After taking a moment to catch their breaths, the twins ran down the hall, down several flights of stairs and to the kitchen.

Once they reached the outdoors, the ran to where the body lay on the bush and picked him up again, rushing towards the woods behind the manor —stopping every five feet to catch their breaths before continuing on.

After about ten minutes, they made it about fifty feet into the woods and placed the body onto the soft dirt.

They both collapsed to the ground and began breathing heavily.

After a five minute break, they ran back towards the house and into the garden.

The twins snuck into the gardeners shed, getting two shovels and going back into the woods where they left Simeon's body.

They began to dig a hole, their shovels working in near-perfect sync as they began to make the grave.

It took about an hour and a half to make it to all six feet, but they made it.

They were both exhausted, not used to hard work since they have lived a life of comfort, but they were half-way done with hiding the body.

Neither boy was tall enough to climb out, so Astre said, "Give me a boost and I'll pull you out."

Ciel got on one knee and let the lighter twin step on his leg to climb out.

"Now help me up." Ciel demanded once Astre was standing

"What went wrong with us?" Astre asked, seemingly out of nowhere, making no effort to help his brother out

"What?" Ciel exclaimed, mentally and physically exhausted

"Why did you stop being my friend?" Astre clarified, "We were so close as kids but the moment we became teens you turned on me and then you went as far as to try and have me killed a few months ago."

"I-I don't know, can't we talk about this after we get back home." Ciel offered

"No, we're talking about this now." Astre sternly said

Ciel's eyes widened in fear, "This grave was never for Simeon was it? You only agreed to help me to put me in it!"

Astre smirked wickedly, "That depends on you, brother dearest. Why did you and Lizzy decide to torment me? Make me an outcast among society? Turn our own parents and family against me?"

"I-I don't know, Astre, I don't know!" Ciel exclaimed, starting to panic, "I g-guess I got so t-tired of getting mixed up for you that I pu-pushed you down the stairs! I never meant for you to lose your eye, I promise, I just wanted to get back at you for being identical to me!"

"But that didn't stop you from gloating about it when you visited me afterwards or when you tried to kill me on the ship or when you attacked me at my engagement." Astre said, tearing up

"I was stupid, I guess hurting you put me on a high! I won't bother you again, I swear, just help me out and we can be friends again!" Ciel pleaded

Tears began to fall down Astre's cheeks, he ripped off his eyepatch, revealing his eyes, "Too little, too late. If you had said that years ago maybe we could've avoided this but now...now I know who's on my side, and that you were never one of them."

The heterochromatic eyed boy then picked up his shovel, held it up high and swung it down, slamming it against Ciel's head.

Once the older twin was laying limp in the grave, Astre burst into sobs.

The bluenette felt himself be picked up and glanced up to see Sebastian.

The demon rocked his lover gently, telling him his work tonight was done, "Rest, caelum mihi, I'll handle the rest."

Astre leaned against a nearby tree and sobbed into his lap, not paying attention to what Sebastian was doing at all...


	18. Hide and Seek

Narrator's POV

In the morning, just a mere four hours away, Astre sat alone at the table like he did everyday.

When his parents finally bothered to arrive, they were suprised to see Ciel missing and Astre sitting down scandalously on Duke Crowther's lap.

The boy hadn't even bothered to get dressed, still in just his nightshirt and eyepatch.

As the Earl and Countess grew closer to the pair, they noticed that Astre was slightly trembling and had a mist of blood on his shirt.

And that instantly raised their alarms about the lack of Ciel, so Vincent asked, "Good morning. Son, where is your brother?"

The underdressed teen still didn't look at them, still cuddled against the Duke.

"Dear?" Rachel asked, worried about her youngest

Astre responded with a giggle, "Wouldn't you like to know?"

That definitely put both parents in alarm, Ciel was in trouble and they needed to help him.

"Where is he, dear?" Rachel gently asked, walking closer but was stopped by Crowther

"Over the hill and far far away." Astre hummed

Rachel and Vincent gave eachother a glance: Astre was loosing his mind.

"We love you, son, we do." Vincent pleaded, "Just tell us where Ciel is."

That's what made Astre finally turn around and face them, angrily asking, "Then what's my name? For as long as I can remember you have only used 'son' to address me. I'll tell you where he is if you answer correctly on the first try. Do you even know what my name is?"

Rachel opened her mouth to answer but Astre stopped her, "If you answer instead of him I'll make sure you never find that brat alive."

That easily shut her up, but that made Vincent even more stressed.

"It-it starts with an 'E' right?" Vincent asked, racking his mind

Astre shook his head, willing the tears threatening to fall away, "My name is Astre Lune Phantomhive, not that you care. Since you've failed the test, you have to play my game to find him now. Around the manor you will find little cards in numerical order, I will provide you with the first card but you must find the rest on your own. With the first seventeen cards, you will win the key to where he is hidden and the next four will give you his location. If you cheat and look for them out of order, I'll just kill Ciel, so it's best to play properly. I also suggest having meals and tea with me here, I might be in a good enough mood to give you hints and I'll even be nice to answer one of your questions truthfully; but if you ask where he is again I won't tell you and you'd have wasted one of your questions. Oh, also, each card has trivia questions about me so you better pray you've given me enough attention to answer the cards."

The shocked couple just sat down and had breakfast with their youngest son, staring at the Duke in shock on how he could be complaisant in this.

Seeming to read their minds, Crowther raised a hand and tussled his hair slightly, freeing parts of his hair from how he had combed it, revealing he was the fired butler all along.

That shocked the pair even more as they whispered to themselves about the question they should ask while they ate.

Turning back to the other couple, where the butler was gently feeding the younger bluenette as if he were a child.

"Where are all the servants?" Rachel asked

Astre turned towards them, "Sebastian is familiar with pharmaceuticals, he dosed each of them with a sleeping medication which will keep them in a coma until tomorrow night. Nothing will wake them so don't even waste your time trying to get help from them."

Nodding, the human couple continued the meal, trying to bite everything on the table in case it was asked of them.

Once Astre was full, he instructed Vincent to lift his own plate, revealing the envelope with a ‘1’ written on it.

Opening it, he found a card that asked, "If you combined Ciel and I's full names, how many letters would their be?"

The answer choices they had were, "A. 40 - go to the kitchen. B. 41 - go to the wine cellar. C. 42 - go to the storage room. D. 43 - go to the butler's pantry."

The couple quickly did the math, each counting the letters in a son's name.

Ciel Sirius Phantomhive - 21  
Astre Lune Phantomhive - 20

The answer was B, so they rushed down to the wine cellar and found another envelope, this with a ‘2’ on it, laying on the table in the center of the room.

Opening it, the next question asked, “What is my favorite type of wine?”

The answers to this one were, “A. Red - go to the garden. B. White - go to the greenhouse. C. Rosé - go to my bedroom. D. Champagne - go to the kitchen.”

They thought about this, not knowing, until Rachel piped up, “It’s ‘C’, he likes rosé; I remember seeing him hold that at his engagement. I took the glass out of his hands after Ciel hurt him.”

So, they went up to the teen’s bedroom, the door was locked but the envelope marked with a ‘3’ was on the door.

This card read, “I wear lots of fine clothing everyday, but I wear this color more than any other. What color am I referring to?”

“A. Blue - go to your office. B. Black - go to the kitchen. C. Green - go to the sitting room. D. Red - go to the garden.”

“He wear lots of blue.” Vincent said, “It has to be ‘A’.”

Rachel shook her head, “It says ‘lots’, it could be including accessories. And I remember filling out the tailor’s forms, his accessories are mostly black.”

Vincent agreed and so they went to the kitchen, happy to see a card labeled with a ‘4’ on top of work station.

Opening this one up, it read, “I love sweets, I could eat them with and for every meal. But I favor one sweet above all, what is it?”

“A. Chocolate ganache cake - go to the butler’s pantry. B. Lemon tart - go to your office. C. Strawberry shortcake with lots of whipped cream - go to Ciel’s room. D. Orange marmalade water ice — go to the garden.”

“He with very specific with ‘C’, I believe that’s the answer.” Vincent said

“No, it’s not. He was very disappointed to see a strawberry birthday cake a few months ago. That’s Ciel’s favorite, Astre likes chocolate; it’s ‘A’.” Rachel countered

The butler’s pantry was within the kitchen, so they walked over to it and opened the door, revealing the ‘5’ envelope.

On top of the envelope, it read, “Before you open, come have lunch with me.”

So, they did as asked and went back to the dining room.

The butler was dressed exactly the same in his noble clothing, but Astre was no longer in his nightshirt, this time he was dressed in a black silk robe...


	19. The Game

Narrator's POV

Sitting down at the table, Rachel and Vincent looked at their son.

Astre was still seated on Crowther...no Sebastian's lap, though what caught their attention was no the teen's outfit change, but rather something on his face.

The bluenette's eyepatch had been discarded, rather where they'd expect to see a wound from his loss of his original eye, they found an eye staring back at them.

Astre giggled when he caught them staring, "Isn't it lovely? Sebastian had one of the finest jewelers in England craft me a glass eye. The pupil is a real amethyst."

"V-Very lovely, dear." Rachel stuttered as the meal began

Astre hummed happily, getting hand fed by his fiancé yet again.

Just like at breakfast, Rachel and Vincent whispered among each other to decide on what question to ask.

After a few moments of discussion, Vincent asked, "Son, why are you doing this?"

"I've spent seventeen years in my brother's shadow. Twenty minutes damned me to a life of neglect. But, even that I was willing to forgive. My original plan was to simply marry Duke Crowther and have both of us be in a fatal accident during our honeymoon and live happily ever after having faked our deaths. But, father, you crossed the line when you fired Sebastian. After he was fired, we spent the following few days killing all his replacements and coming up with our new plan." Astre answered

"Dear, we have always loved you." Rachel softly replied

Astre shook his head, "No, you're lying. The only way I have managed to get your attention on me for once is doing this. And you aren't even doing this for me, just like everything else this is for Ciel."

"She's right," Vincent countered, "The only difference was that Ciel is the heir, he needed more of our attention in order to teach him to be Earl. You don’t have that same responsibility, you’ve always been free to carve your own path as the spa-“

A knife was thrown at him before he could finish the word ’spare’, landing in the chair beside his head.

“I would refrain from using such words if I were you.” Sebastian warned, slightly rocking his beloved, “Next time the knife will not miss.”

With that, the meal concluded and Rachel and Vincent were left to the game until tea.

***

Once the pair returned to the butler’s pantry, they found several tea sets and dozens of tins of tea in various sizes divided into four sections —presumably for the four family members.

They opened the envelope and read the fifth card, “Every day, Sebastian serves me tea at least four times a day. In my tea section, there are over a dozen tins of tea that serve various purposes. Some of those teas are strictly for when I’m sick whilst the rest are for every day. Luckily for you, Sebastian is very meticulous in his organizational skills so this mini-game should be easy. Look for my favorite tea and the next location is on the bottom. Guess wrong and I toss the key to save Ciel into the nearby river to never be seen again. I’m always watching!”

“He said we flip it over to find the answer.” Rachel said, “As long as we don’t do that we’ll be fine to open them and look inside.

So that’s what they did, opening every time and seeing how empty it was because surely the most favored tea would be the most used.

That narrowed the teas down to three: Earl Grey, Lady Grey, and Earl Grey Crème.

Both nobles were lost as to figuring out the answer as all three tins were nearly empty in their respective tins.

“What is we judge by sizes?” Vincent suggested, “He’s had years to try all these teas so the size would determine how often it would be drunk.”

Lady Grey had the smallest tin, so that was eliminated and the Earl Grey Crème was slightly smaller than Earl Grey so they chose the latter.

Flipping over the Earl Grey, trying not to spill it, they found the word “Servant’s Quarters - Sebastian’s Room.”

They went to the servant’s quarters, finding all of their staff sleeping in their beds until they finally came across an empty room.

The room wasn’t empty if items, just of people.

Upon examination, they found one bedside table filled with items belonging to Simeon, which meant he was either dead or with Ciel, and then Sebastian’s bed was empty of personal things with only the envelope labeled ‘6’ inside.

The letter read, “This is a rather easy question, just a true or false; thought if make it easy after a hard mini-game. So true or false, Sebastian’s favorite animal is a cat even though I’m allergic to them.”

And the answers were easy as well, “True - go to the garden. False - go to the storage room.”

“The letter was bitterly written, I believe it’s ‘true’.” Vincent said, his skills as Watchdog helping finally

Rachel agreed and they went outside and in the garden.

Resting on a bench, weighted down by a rock, was letter ‘7’.

“Even though I can’t go outside often during winter nor late autumn nor early spring, I love nature. I think all of the flowers the gardener’s planted are beautiful, but my favorite is special. My favorite flower only blooms for a very short time. What is my favorite?”

“A. Japanese Cherry Blossoms - go to the storage room. B. Silver Winter Roses - go to the stables. C. Purple Morning Glories - go to Ciel’s room. D. White Devil’s Trumpets - go to your office.”

They looked around, finding ‘B’’s answer under his bedroom window, so they went to the stables.

There were four horses in the stable, two carriage horses, Ciel’s riding horse as well as a foal.

Unfortunately, Vincent’s riding horse had passed away nearly a year ago and he was yet to purchase another.

So, in the empty pen, they found letter ‘8’, “Ciel was cruel to everything and everyone who held less power than him. His own horse wasn’t spared that cruelty. If you look closely Moses’ coat, you find hundred of whip-marks and cuts for when he wasn’t going fast enough for Ciel’s tastes or when he got tired and began to slow. I’ve always wanted to ride, but you never let me. Sebastian let me though, one evening when you two were away on business and Ciel was with Lizzy I spent hours riding Moses and he was wonderful. So, true or false, does Moses like apples more than sugar-cubes?”

In front of them was a small bowl of sugar-cubes and a small bushel of apples.

Each one of them held a one of the items, Rachel having a sugar-cube in her palm while Vincent held an apple in front of the horse, letting him sniff them.

Moses lapped up the sugar-cube, walking away.

The answer was false so they went on to the next location.

***

After having tea with Astre, but still before dinner, Rachel and Vincent finally found letter ‘17’ in Ciel’s room...


	20. A Beautiful Day

Narrator's POV

Now armed with the necessary seventeen questions, Rachel and Vincent went to dinner in order to get the key.

Walking into the dining room, the Earl and Countess both noticed that Astre had changed clothes yet again.

Instead of the black robe, the teen now wore a pure white corset that had gold ribbons as laces as well as gold lace adoring it, and he also white shorts and stockings; and around his neck was a silver choker with a large sapphire.

"We've collected all seventeen cards." Rachel informed

"Give us the key." Vincent demanded

"Uh-uh." Astre denied, "You haven't answered the final card yet."

"The card just said to come to dinner." Rachel said, confused

"I know, I wanted to ask the final question myself." Astre replied, "You've seen the crime scene that is Ciel's room, what do you think happened last night?"

Vincent and Rachel took a moment to discuss with each other but after awhile they gave their best guess, "You and Sebastian attacked Ciel, the blood on the floor probably came from Simeon who was defending him."

Astre huffed, "You're half right, the blood is Simeon's but we were not the ones who attacked. Simeon attacked Ciel. Ciel then had me help him dispose the body."

Astre was silent for a second, as if he were reliving it, but then he said, "Now, sit, let's have dinner and you can finish up your quest. And you have one final question."

Vincent and Rachel discussed again and Rachel asked, "Is Ciel hurt?"

Astre pondered for a moment, "Not severely, he's probably more scared than hurt. He's probably hungry and parched as well."

They had dinner —or in Sebastian's case hand fed Astre— and stayed in a silence.

When the meal concluded, The blunette fished something from Sebastian's breast-pocket and tossed it at his parents, "There's the key, go to the front door for your next question and they'll lead you to him. When you find him, I do recommend not running away, I've poisoned him and it will kill him by tomorrow afternoon unless I give him the antidote."

Rachel and Vincent swiftly left the dining room, neither hearing Astre's soft cries.

***

Now that they had the key, they made their way towards the door to begin answering the final four questions.

Just as Astre had said, on the door was a letter labeled '18' was waiting for them.

"From now until you recover my brother, you both will be retracing our steps from last night sans the corpse. You've visited both Ciel's room, where the night began, so now go to the bush in front of his window." The letter read

"It's not even a question, just orders." Vincent muttered as they went outside

Once they found that bush, the found card '19' that directed them towards the gardener's shed and to get two shovels.

Card '20', also in the shed, directed them towards the tree line where the forest on the property began.

They found card '21' atop the grave of their dog, Sebastian, who had died nearly five years ago due to the old age of being thirteen.

The twins had been twelve when he passed, Astre had been the one to find him as the faithful dog spent most nights with him.

That night the black borzoi had gone to sleep cuddled up with his favored twin and hadn't woken up.

The card itself was short and simply read, "You'll find him in the woods, he has been buried alive and his grave has been marked with a black flag."

***

Ciel lay shivering in his cold coffin.

He had no idea how long he had been trapped in it, the only sign he had of the outside world was through his oxygen mask that had a small tube that led to the world above.

The older twin heard what he swore were voices, so he tried shouting up his tube, "I'm here! I'm in here!"

He heard the sounds of shovels clinging against the dirt and what seemed like an eternity later, he heard a lock open and finally he was greeted with moonlight.

"Mum, Dad!" Ciel happily exclaimed, rushing to stand

His parents rushed to hug him, holding him so close as if he might disappear.

"We-We got to get you back home." Vincent said, lifting Ciel out of the grave

"No way!" Ciel said, "Astre's the one that put me in there, I'm not going back until he's gone!"

"We have to, honey, he poisoned you and you'll die before noon if we don't get you the antidote." Rachel informed

***

Once the family of three returned back home, they found everything about the dining room had changed.

Gone was the table and it's many chairs, now it was decorated...just like the wedding they had planned.

Where the alter would be with a marriage ledger, was a chalice of what looked like tar and before it all was three chairs.

Once they were seated, Sebastian walked into the room now dressed as a groom, in a fine black suit with a crimson handkerchief around his neck as well as his normal black gloves.

Next entered Astre, now dressed as a bride.

The cream-colored bodice of his dress resembled the corset with an addition of short, slightly puffy sleeves; the skirt was the same color and was plain, but there mesh layers on top of it that made the volume seem even larger, and h Th ere was embroidered cherry blossoms all over the dress in a pale pink that almost looked cream.

Covering his face, was a mesh veil also with a few cherry blossoms around the trim.

Both the bride and groom stood by the 'alter' but Ciel shouted, "Where's the antidote?"

Astre giggled, "There is none, silly, I didn't poison you; I just wanted to make sure you lot stayed for my wedding."

That left the trio dumbstruck long enough for the wedding to begin.

Sebastian removed his right glove and picked up the chalice with his left hand.

He held his right hand over the golden chalice, revealing his black nails, muttering something inaudible.

The raven-haired man then gave the chalice to Astre, "Drink every drop, my love, join me in eternity.

Astre did as instructed, taking the chalice under his veil and drinking it.

The three guests watched in shock as Astre's normal fingernails bled into a black color like Sebastian's.

Once the new demon had consumed all the contents of the cup, he placed it back on the 'alter', ready for the wedding to continue.

Sebastian pulled a ring out of his pocket, a white gold ring that instead of being a solid band was made up of dozens of smaller bands woven together.

"Ego pignus meum, aeternus amor et pietas erga te, caelum mihi." Sebastian vowed, sliding the new ring onto Astre's left ring-finger above the engagement ring (I pledge my eternal love and devotion to you, my heaven.)

Astre began his own vow, occasionally stumbling over the unfamiliar Latin, "T-Testor ego an-amorem er-erga Nationem aeternum mihi est ad te." (I swear my eternal love and loyalty to you.)

Human eyes didn't see the the silver line of magic connecting them as the bonding was completed, but the demons did and that's all that mattered.

Now, there was only one part of the wedding left, it wasn't required but it was a demon tradition.

Astre picked up the chalice again, watching it morph in his hands into a dagger.

He then walked towards the guests, towards his brother, and slit his throat, the blood spraying all over his dress.

Before Vincent and Rachel could retaliate, the demon couple teleported away...


	21. Identical Boys, Different Paths

Narrator's POV

In the aftermath of the demonic wedding, Rachel and Vincent were left stunned and horrified whilst Ciel bled out from his slit throat.

It had been about two minutes since Astre and Sebastian had disappeared and in that time Ciel was desperately trying to breathe whilst his mother held her skirts to his neck to try and stop the bleeding.

But that was merely delaying the inevitable, his jugular had been cut, and with no medical treatment available, he had minutes left at best or moments at worse.

And just as they knew, the end came about an agonizing minute later, the three Phantomhives clothes soaked with the youngest's blood.

One moment, Ciel was wheezing as he tried to breathe, and the next the life was fading out of his eyes as his body grew limp.

The next hour was hell for the Earl and his wife, their future was gone.

And that's when help arrived at last.

Through the front doors of the manor walked in Undertaker.

The mortician/underworld information broker/retired reaper made his way towards the distraught parents and placed comforting hands on their shoulders, "I can help."

"How? Ciel is dead." Vincent decades, choking on the final word

"In my many studies of the fleetingness of human life, I have discovered a way to reverse it." Undertaker informed

"How?" Rachel asked, tears rolling down her cheeks as hope appeared

Undertaker knelt down towards the corpse and picked him up, placing him on the table, "I have spent the last decade experimenting on the corpses of the homeless and have been nearly successful in my attempts to bring them back to life."

"'Nearly successful'? So you don't know if this will even work?" Vincent asked

"No, I have been successfully in bring them back in a way. So far I can get the body moving, but not thoughts and speech yet. Though at last I believe I know what had been going wrong." Undertaker clarified, "Once brought back to life, the bizarre dolls —the reborn— require monthly blood transfusions. Fresh blood helps bring back the mind and seeing that he is recently dead this should be easier than my former tries. I will test his blood-type first and see which one of you can act as his donor."

"'Blood type'?" Rachel asked, having never heard the term before from Ann

"In my studies, I have discovered there to be four types of blood: Vega, Polaris, Canopus and Sirius. Vega is the most common and Sirius is the rarest." Undertaker explained as he pulled a syringe out of his bag

After a few minutes, the result came back and Undertaker tsked, "He is of the Sirius blood-type."

"Test us." Vincent offered, pulling up his jacket sleeve, ready to offer his arm

Undertaker took his blood and tested it as well, "It seems you are not a match, your blood is Canopus. Sirius is the product of Canopus and Polaris, so it would lead me to assume your wife would be Polaris. The only person that can act as a donor would be his brother."

That sunk their hope instantly, Rachel saying, "Astre eloped with his butler, he's gone."

"He's the one that did this to Ciel!" Vincent added before turning back to Undertaker, "There's got to be something we can do!"

"I can try collecting blood from you both and mixing it. There's no certainty that it will work though." Undertaker said, "But before that there are a few surgeries that must be done."

Rachel and Vincent nodded, "Anything for Ciel."

***

Four hundred and sixty-five kilometers from Phantomhive Manor, in the heart of Paris, Duke and Duchess Crowther were celebrating their honeymoon.

They were staying in one of the finest hotel's in the city and ever since they entered the room, they had been performing the same task.

After a few hours of consummating their marriage, Astre began to tire, his body exhausted from the species change.

So, whilst they took a break, Sebastian got up and went towards the desk in the room where a bucket filled with ice and a bottle of wine —rosé of course— waited along with two glasses.

It seemed the hotel provided honeymooners with a complimentary bottle of wine, Astre smiled as he accepted a glass from his mate.

They clinged their glasses together, "To us."

They began to drink their glasses and chatted about what they should do tomorrow.

As the conversation made a brief detour back to what happened today, Astre laughed as he sipped at his glass, "If I never saw any of them again, it'd be too soon!"

***

After hours of surgeries and blood transfusions and electric shocking, Ciel's eyes fluttered open.

Immediately, the seventeen year old sat up and grasped his neck, no longer feeling the wound, "What happened?"

Undertaker smiled down at the boy, "I have healed you."

The white haired mortician then helped him up and towards a mirror, holding back the blunette's bangs to show him the full extent.

Ciel gasped lightly as he saw the line of stitches covering his neck like a string of pearls, then he looked to his forehead and saw an identical line.

"What happened?" Ciel asked again

"You passed but I brought you back to life." Undertaker explained, leading him towards the door, "Your parents are waiting for you in the other room —if they haven't fallen asleep— they both gave up a substantial amount of blood to bring you back after bleeding out."

Ciel opened the door and walked up to his parents, hugging them and feeling them cry into him.

After a few moments, Undertaker broke the tearful silence, "Every month he will need a half-liter of blood every month, which won't be anywhere near as much as he needed today. I would suggest looking for potential candidates of his blood type to be his permanent donor since I don't know if your different blood types will start conflicting."

"We understand." Vincent said, holding his son close...


	22. The Wedding

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I couldn't find any Victorian Era wedding vows in my research, so I'm using the one's from the Corpse Bride since it takes place during this time period.

Narrator's POV

After Ciel returned to life, the staff began to wake from their slumber.

No one besides the family knew the truth and a lie was spun that Astre had passed away during the night.

Since all the money in Astre's wedding had been spent, Vincent contacted his sister and arranged for Ciel's wedding to Lizzy he moved forward to the end of the week.

***

Back in Paris, Sebastian was sitting up on their bed during the night.

Astre had fallen asleep a few hours ago and Sebastian found himself removing his magic from the locations in England.

He removed the supernatural-repelling wards from Phantomhive Manor and the Townhouse as well as the illusion charm on Crowther Manor so it returned to the ruins he had found it as.

But when his magic returned, he discovered something: A, Ciel had not been fully killed and B, he was marrying Lizzy on Saturday.

So, when Astre awoke, he was informed of the news and they immediately began to plot.

As they found themselves training, Astre learning his new abilities, the wedding was approaching.

***

When the day of the wedding arrived, Lizzy sat in a small room in the church.

Paula has left her alone a few moments ago after her makeup and hair had been done.

The blonde girl wore a dress traditional to a wedding of the time.

It was a pearl white dress with plenty of lace and ruffles and long puffy sleeves.

Now, all she had to wait for was for her father to walk her down the aisle to her soon husband.

Heading a light knocking on her door, she assumed it was her father so she opened the door.

But it wasn't him, it was Astre wearing a silk robe the exact same shade of white as her gown.

"B-But you're dead!" Lizzy stuttered, walking backwards fearfully

Unfortunately for the bride-to-be, she tripped on her own train and fell to the floor.

Astre smirked, his blue and lavender eyes bleeding red, then magenta before settling on emerald green.

His navy blue hair bleached itself into a golden blonde and lengthen as well as curled into her signature pigtails.

The youngest twin grew a few inches so his height matched hers.

Finally, his bust filled out so he went from being flat chested into having the same sized breasts as her.

Gasping, Lizzy found her clothes and his had switched: Astre had stolen her form.

Scrambling to her feet, Lizzy tried to pounce at the imposter, but strong arms held her back.

Turning her head to see who was holding her back, she saw Astre's butler.

There was a knocking at the door and Paula's meek voice asked, "Is everything alright, Miss?"

The butler's hand clamped over her mouth, muffling her shouts into becoming inaudible.

Astre cleared his throat before speaking in her voice, "Everything's perfect, Paula."

"Oh, ok, I thought I heard you gasp so I came to check on you." Paula explained

"Nothing's wrong, I thought I smudged my lipstick but I was wrong." Astre lied, giving a small giggle at the end as he applied Lizzy's pale pink lipstick to his own lips

"Ok, your father should be here shortly." Paula said, the light tapping of her heels showing she had walked away

Tears rolled down Lizzy's cheeks, her mascara running as her potential rescuer walked away.

The bride-to-be was shoved into the closet where her traveling outfit waited for after the wedding when she and Ciel boarded their carriage to go to their honeymoon in New York.

Through the cracks in the door, the blonde girl watched as her father knocked on the door and escorted Astre out of the room.

***

Astre held onto his Uncle Alexis Leon's arm as he was escorted down the pink rose petal covered aisle.

Once they arrived to the alter, Alexis Leon walked away to sit next to his wife at the closest pew and the wedding began.

The demon ignored the pastor's words as the wedding ceremony began, waiting for the moment he was excited for.

And before long, that moment arrived, Ciel picked up the only lit candle from the candelabra and used it to light one of the two unlit candles, "With this hand, I will lift your sorrows. Your cup will never empty, for I will be your wine. With this candle, I will light your way in darkness. With this ring, I ask you to be mine."

With that final sentence, Ciel had put the lit candle back in its place and slid the plain ring onto his supposed bride's finger.

Astre smiled, picking up the lit candle, "With this hand, I destroy your future-"

There were gasps from around the room, Ciel's eyes widened in confusion as he gaped at him.

"Your cup will never empty, for you won't be alive to drink it." Astre spat, his form beginning to shift back to normal, "with this candle, I end your life properly by burning this entire church down."

The heterochromatic eyed boy then threw the lit candle onto the ground, lighting the lamp oil that had soaked into the wood —thanks to Sebastian's work this morning...


	23. The Aftermath

Narrator's POV

The guests sitting at the pews ran towards the door, trying to escape the burning church but found the doors blocked by something heavy —also thanks to Sebastian.

The humans within the church began panicking, trying to get to the windows but they were too high up on the wall.

Ciel was yet to move, too in shock to try and run away, but he then turned to his brother, "Why? You had your revenge you killed me. Where's Lizzy?"

Astre laughed evilly, "You should've stayed dead. I've had a while to think and I decided not just you should pay for what you did; I decided that our entire family should pay for their silence regarding your treatment of me, they all knew and did nothing!"

"Where's Lizzy?" Ciel repeated, growling

The younger twin laughed again, clapping his hands together momentarily, lifting the tablecloth of the cake table, exposing the gagged and bound bride.

"Lizzy!" Ciel exclaimed, rushing to help her, removing her gag

While Ciel was helping his bride, Astre was looking at the scrambling crowd, looking at the faces of his parents, aunts and uncle and cousin as well as the close family friends.

He watched with a smile as Madame Red caught fire first, her lacy red gown getting caught on fire.

The amount of flammable fabric covering her body had her in a crisp before she could even try to put it out.

This repeated with his Aunt Francis, then Uncle Alexis Leon when he tried to help his wife but ended up catching fire himself.

The demon-accelerated fire then caught Cousin Edward and then his father and the rest of the guests.

Before long, the only humans alive were his mother, Lizzy and Ciel.

"You're a monster." Rachel sobbed as her dress caught fire as well, trying to rip it off to no avail

Astre sniffled slightly, a tear rolling down his eye as he darkly replied, "If I'm a monster, then I'll do my very best."

The last thing Astre saw before he teleported away was the sight of Lizzy's robe catching fire as Ciel was hugging her close.

***

With the demons gone, Ciel and Lizzy were the only ones left in their family.

Having noticed that Lizzy has caught fire, Ciel quickly got her robe off of her, leaving her in a corset and bloomers.

The rest of her clothing had flame on them, so he stripped her completely, though too late to prevent the flesh on her back to burn severely.

Lizzy's eyes were full of tears, "I just wanted to be cute for you until the end."

Ciel then rushed to grab her as she passed out due to embarrassment and having smoke-filled lungs.

Since he was already dead, now just a corpse kept alive by science and his soul, the smoke didn't effect him as he crawled and kicked down the weak wooden door after the fire had mostly eaten it away.

Holding Lizzy in his arms, Ciel got out of the burning church and walked into the field before it.

He laid Lizzy in the ground; trying to fill her lungs with clean air to no avail.

She had stopped breathing.

Sobbing, Ciel shed his jacket and vest, using them to conceal her nudity as he laid her body into the carriage that was supposed to take them to Berlin.

For the next four and a half hours, Ciel tearfully maneuvered the horse towards London.

***

Once in London, Ciel stopped the carriage in front of Undertaker's Shop, hurrying to get Lizzy inside.

"UNDERTAKER!" Ciel screamed; not seeing the white haired man anywhere in the shop

One of the display coffins opened, revealing where the man slept.

Instead of acting like he usually did, the reaper rushed to get up and help them.

Seeing she was dead, he rushed to check his blood type and found her to be Canopus.

Rushing to the back room, he returned with a small vial and hooked it up so it tuned into her wrist.

He then bandages her back to stop the bleeding before beginning the surgery.

Before long, Ciel hears the gasp of her waking and rushes to be by her side, "Lizzy!"

"Ciel." Lizzy weakly replied, a shaky hand going to stroke his face

Before she could, she passed out yet again.

"What happened!" Ciel demanded to know, turning to face the mortician

"She doesn't have enough blood and I don't have enough in storage. She is alive just as you are but she is weak. Luckily for her, my apprentice should arrive in a few hours to help me set-up shop and he has Canopus blood." Undertaker explained, setting her in a coffin that had tubes and other contraptions that he set up on her

The following few hours were a blur, the only parts Ciel remembered was telling the other male what Astre had done to their family.

Unfortunately, their bodies had been burned to a crisp and their souls had been reaped, they were dead for good.

Ciel barely even processed what he did when the apprentice mortician arrived, didn't even notice when he grabbed him and knocked him out.

Didn't notice when Undertaker hooked him up to a machine and extracted kilos of blood and gave it to Lizzy.

Finally, she opened her eyes again and sat up, the scar from her surgery hidden under her long bangs.

The assistant then found himself donating skin to replace Lizzy's burned flesh as bizarre dolls couldn't heal.

His skin tone was more tanned than hers, but after a bit of bleach was added it matched and was sewn to her skin.

And since Undertaker was the one who prepared bodies for funerals, he had a few spare dresses in his shop and gave one to Lizzy to cloth her for the time being.

***

A week later, Ciel and Lizzy, now husband and wife, found themselves at their family's funerals, watching as all six caskets were laid into the ground and covered with dirt...


	24. The Ancient Past

Narrator's POV

After they left the burning church, Astre was now dressed in black shorts with matching stockings and garters as well as a pink shirt-sleeved shirt that had slightly puffy sleeves as well as a tan vest with matching shoes.

The mated couple were heading to Hell as Sebastian wished to introduce Astre to his family.

Astre looked at his husband who was wearing a powder blue dress shirt, a mauve vest, a black jacket with matching slacks and shoes.

“You don’t seem to excited to be going home.” Astre noticed, leaving against him

Sebastian chuckled nervously, “Let’s just say my father and I don’t have the best relationship.”

“What about your mother.” Astre asked

“I had an even worse one with her.” Sebastian replied, “She’s actually the reason my father and I have trouble, as I accidentally killed her when I was a youngling.”

“How so?”

***

In the year 686, twenty year old Sebastian was in the garden of his family home in Hell.

While being twenty would make him an adult by human standards, by demon standards he was considered a toddler —he wouldn’t be considered grown until he reached a hundred.

So, even his human form reflected that as he still had the appearance of a human toddler.

Among the thousands of demons in Hell, Sebastian’s family was unique as his father was a fallen angel.

Sebastian’s father, Allocen, had fallen from grace along side King Lucifer, so if the demon hierarchy compared to the human one, the family were considered to be Dukes.

So, also entering the garden is Atgas, Sebastian’s mother.

“Sebastianus!” Atgas shouted, using the full name her son hated

The young demon frowned and walked towards her, “Yes, mother?”

“Why has your uncle told me that you did not attend your magic lessons?” Atgas asked, resting her hands on her hips angrily

Sebastian rolled his eyes, his teacher was another fallen angel, making him very loosely his uncle as the fallen angels were hardly siblings.

“I told you this yesterday, mother, I’m ahead of my peers. They are still struggling with shadowjumping while I mastered it months ago.” Sebastian explained, “Why waste my time watching them fail.”

Atgas scowled and grabbed him by the bangs, dragging him back inside in order to punish him for speaking like that to her.

Sebastian scrambles in her grip, knowing his mother was cruel to everyone but especially him.

What he didn’t know then was that his mother was actually jealous of him, as he had been born on June sixth of the year 666, the day prophesies to produce the strongest demons in a year meant for strong demons.

Additionally, she was also envious of his half-angel blood since she was completely demon.

So, in her jealousy against her eldest child brought hatred towards him and today, it was going to boil over.

Over the past decade, Atgas had begun to wish to simply remove her son from existence.

He was so lazy, after all, spending his days exploring instead of learning, he’d never be a useful demon.

So, she’d be actually doing him a favor to kill him before he failed.

Hopefully his ten year old sister, Nicasia, did better than him.

Perhaps sensing her maliciously fatal intent, Sebastian’s magic lashed out.

It created a darkness so thick he couldn’t see though it, only hear his mother’s screams and ripping.

Once the smoke cleared, Sebastian found himself holding a demon sword in front of his mother’s mutilated corpse.

Because of all of screams, he had attracted his father’s attention, so the fallen angel came out of the house as well, staring at his son and the corpse of his mate.

“What have you done?” Allocen asked

***

Astre hugged his mate as he finished sharing his tale, “Your mother sounds horrible.”

“I imagine she and your brother would’ve gotten along swimmingly.” Sebastian said with a weak chuckle

As they entered Hell, Sebastian spoke again, “While we are going to visit my father, I’m really wanting you to meet my sister.”

Astre nodded, “Then I cant wait to meet her. You said her name is ‘Nicasia’ right?”

“Yes, though I’ve always called her ‘Asi’.” Sebastian answered, “You two share a few similarities. You both are avid readers and enjoy wildlife, I can already imagine you two finding yourselves becoming friends.”...


	25. Better the Devil You Know

Narrator's POV

As the demonic couple walked through their kind’s realm, Astre found Hell to be opposite to the way it had always been described.

It was not a realm of fire and brimstone and chaos with sinners being tortured everywhere; Hell was a cold, dark cave of a world meticulously organized like any other city with a palace holding the royal family in the center.

As they walked, Astre noticed he flora was nothing like the ones in the human realm: the grass was not green, but rather a light grey almost resembling concrete; tree bark was various shades of black with navy blue leaves.

After about twenty minutes of walking through the demon city-realm, they approached a manor near the heart of the city that Sebastian said was his family’s home.

After a moment of hesitation, Sebastian knocked on the front door using the raven shaped knocker.

The few seconds it took for the door to be opened felt like an eternity, but the door was soon opened by a tall Asian man with tidy black hair and silver eyes who wore a lavender dress shirt and black slacks.

“Hello, father.” Sebastian greeted

The man Astre now knew was Allocen smiled, “Hello, son, come in.”

The fallen angel stepped back and led them through the manor towards a sitting room so they could talk.

As they walked through the manor, Astre noted that it was just as lavish —if not more so— as the human occupied ones in the realm above.

Upon arriving in the sitting room, three demons then sat, Allocen taking an armchair whilst the couple took the loveseat.

“So, tell me, Sebastian, what have you been up to these past two hundred years since you’ve last visited home.” Allocen asked, ringing a bell to presumably call a servant

Drowning out what his husband said, Astre wondered what sort of creature classified as a servant for demons: lesser demons perhaps? Maybe a little creature like a goblin?

So, expecting to see some sort of supernatural creature, Astre was surprised to see a human woman wearing a maid uniform bring in tea.

Upon seeing the women, Astre immediately took notice of her anklet, which was metal with a engraving on it of a raven with a few numbers beneath it.

Astre was brought out of his observation upon being addressed by his father-in-law, who asked, “Tell me about yourself, Astre.”

Astre did as asked, telling the man about his hobbies of art and reading, of his age and where he was from.

Whilst he talked, Astre wondered how Allocen knew his name, having not introduced himself nor heard Sebastian use it.

Allocen seemed to pick up on that, saying, “I have known of you for centuries.” after Astre finished.

Sebastian noticed Astre was still confused, so he explained that when natural born demons turned a hundred years old, they learned of the name of their true mate as well as their year of birth.

Allocen chuckled, “Sebastian was very impatient when he was young, I imagine he wanted you to be born some time that century. I still remember when he came down from his room on his hundredth birthday in 766 frowning because you wouldn’t be born for over a thousand years. His only consolation prize was that a decade later his sister discovered her mate’s name and she is still waiting another five hundred years for her’s to be born.”

Astre smiled and leaned against Sebastian, hearing him say, “It was well worth the wait.”

***

After awhile of talking and father and son catching up, the newly weds went upstairs to Sebastian’s room.

Astre followed Sebastian down the hall and watched as he opened a door to reveal his bedroom.

The younger demon looked eagerly around the room, absorbing everything that had been a part of his mate’s life before they had even met.

The walls of the room was lined with vertical planks of wood stained black; the floor was black and white marbled tile; the desk was wooden as well and stained a dark grey, the desk itself was littered with papers and books and other objects like a plague doctor mask; the bed looked extremely comfortable with its sangria red silk sheets and feather pillows as well as the black comforter.

Sitting on the bed, Astre asked his question from earlier, “How come the servants are human?”

“When a demon completes a contract or deal, the payment they receive is the human contractor’s soul. But, instead of taking the soul and storing it, some demons like to kept that human in servitude in a hopeless attempt for the human to try and pay off their debt but in reality they are just improving their own flavor. That maid you just saw had an anklet showing she belongs to my family, via the raven crest, and the number shows how many points she needs to repay her debt.” Sebastian explained

“How is it hopeless than?” Astre asked, still slightly confused

“Because, they earn one point for every hour of work. Their food and clothing and lodging cost points, twenty points every day. So unless they work all day and only sleep for four hours, they will owe even more than what they began with that day.” Sebastian informed

“Oh, I see.” Astre said, “So that constant hope helps them taste better and the ultimate failure adds to that too?”

Sebastian removed his jacket, hanging it on a nearby hook, “Precisely.”

After hanging his jacket, Sebastian returned something from the pocket and handed it to Astre.

The seventeen year old looked at his palm and found two rings: the gold Phantomhive signet ring and the sapphire and silver inheritance ring.

“I took them before your father burned, so he was aware of the fact you’d be the one to receive them.” Sebastian told

Astre smiled, slipping on the rings always intended for his brother.

“Your father said Asi arrives tomorrow, right?” Astre asked, cuddling onto Sebastian’s lap

“At earliest, yes, or sometime in the next few days as she was called for a deal yesterday.” Sebastian answered, using his right hand to stroke Astre’s hair and laced his left with said mate’s own

Astre sighed happily, content as he rested under the covers with his mate.

Giving his hands another glance, his smile grew: he had the last laugh...


	26. In the Moonlight

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’ve always headcannoned Sebastian to be half-Asian and half-white, so in my story is father is Chinese and his mother French even though I never really got specific. Also I snuck in a Hannibal reference, anyone who spots it gets an imaginary cookie!

Narrator's POV

That morning, or at least what passes for morning in Hell —when the flameglass, those white light giving crystals, littering the roof of the cave-like realm were beginning to brighten—, Astre woke still cuddled in Sebastian's strong arms.

The older demon was awake, as he didn't sleep since he doesn't like partaking in unnecessary things like sleep and eating, so he kissed Astre when he noticed he woke.

"Good morning, caelum mihi." Sebastian greeted as they separated from the kiss

"Morning." Astre replied, rubbing his eyes, slightly feeling the cold of the rings on his fingers

That was a weird thing about being a demon: how some of his senses had heightened and others had dimmed —no longer would the cold bother him.

After a few minutes more of cuddling, Sebastian got up and walked towards the large wardrobe holding the clothing he had left on his last visit home.

Sebastian changed into a grey dress-shirt and black slacks, 

"How does it feel, my love?" Sebastian asked as he pulled some clothes out of Astre's luggage

"What do you mean?" Astre replies, confused as to what he meant

Sebastian knelt before him, beginning to undress him from the clothes he had slept in, "How does it feel to know that if we went back up to the human realm, back to England, you'd probably legally be the Earl of Phantomhive now that your father and brother are dead."

"I have mixed feelings about it." Astre honestly answered, nude on the bed as he was redressed, "I'm happy that I've won at last but I never cared to have the title. It feels like an ill-fitting suit, clearly not made for me yet I still have it."

The blunette then was dressed in a dark grey dress-shirt with a high ruffled collar; a grey vest of the same shade that had black lapels; black shorts with a matching garters and stockings; a black coat that had a large black ribbon on the back; dark grey boots that nearly reached his knees that had black detailing; and the outfit was finished with a black bow around his collar.

Now that they were both dressed, the couple then walked downstairs where they found Allocen talking with a woman with black hair that had a blue ombré to it.

The woman had silver eyes and she wore a Prussian blue dress that had sheer lantern sleeves and she also wore black heeled boots.

The smiled when she saw them, standing and rushing over to hug her brother, “It’s so good to see you, Bast!”

“Hello, Asi, I missed you too.” Sebastian replied, hugging his younger sister

***

After an hour of two of catching up with his sister and Astre being introduced to the Astre she had always heard about.

Currently, the youngest demon found himself standing between Asi and Sebastian as the former gave him a tour of Hell.

As they walked through the maze-like streets, revisiting old stomping grounds and listening to childhood tales, the trio were now sitting in a park.

"It seems black is very important to the demonic aesthetic." Astre said, stating an observation he made

"It is, we're all fond of that color." Asi agreed, "Perhaps because it resembles the shadows we've become part of...or perhaps it's because blood looks black in the moonlight."

Astre closed his eyes, remembering when he and Sebastian had left the manor on their wedding night, how those spray of blood on his white gown had seemed black in the darkness of the night.

The blunette smiled, “You’re right. It does look black in the moonlight, like spilled night sky.”

Sebastian smiled slightly, glad his sister and mate were getting along just as well as he hoped.

“It’s beautiful.” Astre added, his eyes still closed as he recalled the sight

After a few minutes more sitting on the bench, the hit back up and continued walking, occasionally seeing other demons walking around as well as once seeing a human servant running an errand.

Hell was gorgeous, the city seemed to be a monument of every era in history with buildings that looked as he was used to all the way to some that resembled castles and Roman buildings and Russian ones and so on.

He had only been here for a day and yet he could imagine living here, living in Sebastian’s family home in between going on contracts and deals together.

As they walked, they neared the edge of town where they saw a massive prison in the forest.

“What’s that?” Astre asked, pointing to the prison

“That is where the damned souls receive their punishment, ‘The Fields of Hell’. Within the prison Hell is exactly as the humans believe. Souls don’t last more than a century there.” Sebastian answered, “I worked there when I was young, from age a hundred and fifty to five hundred.”

Astre blushed as he imagined Sebastian dressed as a prison guard, punishing he damned.

“Do you think my family is there?” Astre asked, leaning his head against his mate

“I can find out if you’d like, I still have some acquaintances that work there.” Sebastian said, “If they are so can see if we can visit and give them extra punishment.”

Astre kisses his cheek, “I’d like that.”

Giving the prison another glance, the trio walked away...


	27. The Fields is Punishment

Narrator's POV

The very next morning, when Sebastian and Astre were sitting in the garden of Sebastian's family home, the latter enjoying a cup of New Moon Drop tea.

"I've been wondering: why do you refer to this house as your family home or your family's estate and your family all introduced themselves with their first names. I've never heard anyone use your-our last name." Astre asked

"That's because I made up my last name. Altered it from a french inquisitor named Sébastien Michaëlis who wrote a book including the classification of demons —it's not at all accurate but it's an interesting read: it's very amusing to read how little humans know." Sebastian explained, "There are so few demons that last names are not very necessary and most refer to each other by what fallen angel they are connected to. I guess my father's name would be a more accurate last name but I don't care for it."

Before Astre could reply, an envelope magically appeared in front of Sebastian in a poof of smoke, causing the receiver to open it and read its contents.

"It seems my request was allowed, we can go visit the Fields today and see if your family is there." Sebastian informed

"Let's go." Astre excitingly said

***

Less than an hour later, Sebastian and Astre found themselves escorted by a guard towards the warden's office.

The guard knocked three times on the door and it opened, revealing a man dressed in a more formal version of the guard's uniform with golden eyes and red hair.

"It's been ages since I've seen you, Sebastian." The warden greeted, sitting at his desk

"Far too long, Carcer." Sebastian agreed, pulling out a seat across from the warden so Astre could sit

"Its a pleasure to meet you, Prince Carcer." Astre greeted, sitting, "I'm Astre."

"The pleasure is all mine. I much prefer the title of Warden, though, I'm barely a prince anyways: the king is my uncle." The red haired demon said, "Sebastian and I were on the same shift back when he worked here and anyone on that shift could tell you that your mate here is very committed to you; most of us joked he'd go celibate for the millennia. Anyways, never mind that, Sebastian tells me that you have a few prisoners here that you'd like to torture?"

"I do." Astre confirmed, listing off his family members

The golden eyed demon then opened the giant book on his desk, flipping through the pages to locate everyone listed.

"We've got everyone you've listed except Ciel Phantomhive and Elizabeth Midford." Carcer said after a few minutes, closing the book

"So they're in Heaven?" Astre asked, shocked at how they weren't here

"They'd be in the book if they were. This is a 'Book of the Dead', we stole it from the reapers a few dozen millennias ago before they switched to lists." The warden replied, "The reason they are not in it is that they are alive."

Astre sighed, his brother survived both attempts on his life and Lizzy survived the fire.

Sebastian comfortingly put a hand on his thigh, squeezing it gently as if to ask 'we can try again, if you want'.

The younger demon shook his head, denying the offer.

He was tired of fighting with his brother, that chapter of his life was over and he didn't want to tarnish the new one.

A few moments later, the three demons were walking away from the administration building towards a cell block labeled 'Avaritia'. 

"Are you familiar with the Nine Circles of Hell described in 'Inferno' by Dante Alighieri?" Carcer asked as he opened the door to the building

"Sort of." Astre replied, "I haven't had the opportunity to read it yet, though I am familiar with the concept."

"It is the closest any human has ever gotten to describing Hell. While there are not nine circles, there are seven cell blocks the damned souls can end up." The red head clarified, "Vincent Phantomhive is here in 'Greed'. Angelina Dallas is in 'Envy', Rachel Phantomhive in 'Sloth', Alexis Leon Midford in 'Lust', Edward Midford in 'Gluttony', and Francis Midford in 'Wrath'."

As they continued to walk through the cell block towards Vincent's cell, Carcer continued to explain how the prison worked, "Within each cell block, each prisoner has to complete a punishment catered to their biggest sin if they ever hope to go to Heaven. Only one prisoner has ever completed their task and gotten to go to paradise, —Dante himself— every other soul dies in the nearly hopeless effort."

Reaching the desired cell, Carcer spoke again, "Here in Greed, the punishment that must be completed is collecting a million pieces of gold or equivalent with an opportunity to upgrade their cell for gold. Unfortunately, this is where I must leave you; I am swamped with paperwork everyday with the new arrivals so I will leave you two to your fun."

The warden pulled a guard badge and key ring out of his pocket and handed it to Sebastian, "So you are temporarily reemployed since I imagine you won't want an escort. Happy torture."

Sebastian slipped the badge into his own pocket and used the Greed key to open the cell once Carcer left.

***

Astre entered his father's barren cell, watching him count ten silver pieces and a gold piece.

The dead Earl didn't even notice them until Astre spoke, "Hello, father."

Vincent turned around and his eyes widened, stuffing the keys to his salvation into the pockets of his lime green jumpsuit, "What do you want?"

Astre pouted, pretending to be offended, "Can a boy not visit his father?"

"No, not you. I am no longer your father; I disown you." Vincent replies, his hazel eyes full of anger

"I disowned you first." Astre countered, shifting so the four rings he wore were obvious

Immediately, Vincent looked to Astre's left middle finger —where the gold signet ring lay— and his left thumb —where the sapphire and silver inheritance ring rest—, "That isn't yours, those are Ciel's."

“Technically, as the ‘spare’ —as you kindly put it— I am Earl once Ciel dies so they are mine.” Astre replied, lying about Ciel being dead

Vincent’s eyes widened even more as he realized his heir was dead, “N-No-“

Astre smirked evilly, “He is. Don’t worry, father, I won’t do anything to slander the Phantomhive reputation you’ve worked so carefully to build besides throw orgies and denounce the Queen and crossdress everyday.”

Vincent’s eyes widened even more, barely noticing when Astre took al the coins from his pockets and buy them in a heavy coin purse he conjured out of nowhere.

“Toodles.” Astre giggled as he left the cell with Sebastian in tow, “I must be off, orgies don’t plan themselves after all.”...


	28. The Prison of the Damned

Narrator's POV

As much as he loved his wife, Alexis Leon has had several affairs through their twenty-five years of marriage.

During those two and a half decades, they had sex maybe a half dozen times, resulting in him turning to others to fulfill his carnal desires.

The result of all of those affairs were how he ended up imprisoned in Hell.

So, once they were done with Vincent, the next closest cell block was 'Cupiditas' or 'Lust' which held his uncle, Alexis Leon.

As they walked towards the fat blond's cell, Sebastian explained that the punishments in Lust, Wrath and Envy were very similar as they all had to do with emotion.

But Lust, their punishment was that if they felt even a spark of arousal, they would face a equal retribution.

Once they approached the cell, Astre understood what the punishment truly entailed, as all the prisoners in Lust were nude and they were magically connected to a timer that showed how long they could not be aroused if they wanted to hope to go to Heaven.

Since the prisoners could see each other easily, it was difficult for them to not feel Lust and it seemed those who lasted the longest had the opportunity to win slutty hot pink clothing to increase their chances.

Astre looked inside his uncle's cell, see the pathetic man curled up against the wall in an attempt to block out the sight of his fellow prisoners.

Since that was cheating, his timer was paused at "99 Years, 364 Days, 22 Hours, 44 Minutes, and 27 Seconds Remain."

Just as he had before, Sebastian unlocked this cell and Astre went inside with his mate following.

To gain the former Marquess' attention, Astre kicked him harshly in the back.

If Alexis Leon was still alive, that kick would have shattered his spine, but since he was just an inedible soul, all it did was cause him to moan in pain and turn around.

Judging by the way the timer buzzed and rest to a hundred years, it seems that was a moan of pleasure as well.

It made sense that someone who willingly married Aunt Francis had to have a pain fetish to last nearly three decades with her bitchiness.

Listening around the nearby cells, Astre heard a few more buzzers, it seems others had gotten aroused at the sight of him kicking his uncle.

Humming momentarily in satisfaction, the young demon gave the damned human another kick —this time to the gut— and listened to a few more buzzers.

Alexis Leon clutched his stomach, still moaning in pain and pleasure, his timer still paused as he was still aroused.

Because there was little else he could do to the soul, Astre left the cell with Sebastian following close behind.

***

Next up was Aunt Francis in the 'Irae' or 'Wrath' cell block.

In her life, she had always been a stern woman, but that sternness had taken over her life when she learned of her husband's dozen or so mistresses.

Because of the era she lived in, she couldn't call him out on his affairs or divorce him without raising scandal since it would be considered her fault for not being a better wife.

Which was one of the reasons she had allowed Ciel to manipulate Lizzy, as she hoped that would decrease the likelihood of him cheating on her.

But either way, her anger and strictness had buttered her soul enough to earn a cell in Hell.

When she had arrived, the guard that had taken her to her cell had explained that she must reach a hundred years of feeling no emotion besides calm if she hoped to go to Heaven, but should she fail the countdown would start over.

Because of her self-discipline, she was using meditation to try and make it through the century it would take to be free.

"99 Years, 362 Days, 18 Hours, 25 Minutes and 12 Seconds Remain." The board connected to her magically read, the seconds ticking down, showing that the meditation was working

Or at least, it was until Astre walked into her cell with his butler close behind.

Upon seeing him, the blonde woman scowled, though she managed to remain calm.

"Hello, Aunt Frannie." Astre greeted

Francis felt her resolve beginning to crumble as he used the nickname her brother always used for her that she hated.

"What do you want, spare?" Francis asked, knowing she hit a nerve with his title

If that had effected the seventeen year old, it didn't show, but he flashed his left hand and its rings, "Actually it's Earl."

Not giving her a chance to speak, Astre continued, "You know, I was looking through my father's records and I came across Elizabeth and Ciel's betrothal agreement. When I was reading it, I noticed that Ciel's name was never in it like Lizzy's, it said that she is betrothed to the next Earl Phantomhive. That's a pretty nice safe guard you out in, ensuring that if anything happens to Ciel that I would be there to pick up the slack —I imagine this was before I was discovered to have asthma? Seeing that Lizzy and I were the only survivors of the wedding, that would make her my fiancée."

Francis' eyes widened as she remembered the wording of the agreement, there was no way she could allow this to happen.

"And since you've ingrained in her the overwhelming desire to be the next Countess Phantomhive since she was a year old, she's already shifted her obsession with Ciel onto me." Astre lied, watching the counter buzz and reset just as Alexis Leon's had

Francis growled, her face as red as her jumpsuit, as the mixture of his words and the timer resetting, "You can't do this!"

"I can, dear aunt." Astre laughed, turning around, "I best be off, wedding planning is so hard."

***

After Aunt Francis was Aunt Ann in 'Uitium' or 'Envy'.

In Envy, the punishment sinners had to face was being strung up in bird like cages naked, looking at their fellow nude prisoners.

To maximize failure, all similar looking people were grouped together so they could be envious of each other.

Angelina was a beautiful woman with her red eyes and redder hair and large bust, but most of her adult life she had been envious of her sister and the fact she married Vincent.

Rachel was a beautiful woman as well, though she had a gentle beauty whilst Ann had a bold one.

Ann, who had been thirty-three when she died, had always been envious of her thirty-six year old sister's blue eyes and dirty blonde hair.

Rachel was luckily to have gotten father's eyes and mother's hair while she got father's hair and mother's eyes.

In the cage beside her, was a woman that had the same red hair as her but her eyes were the same brilliant blue as Rachel's.

Ann tried her best to ignore her, wanting to succeed in her task and go to Heaven.

But it was difficult as the women on the other side had the same red eyes as her but had Rachel's hair.

She held strong, though, after all she made her way through medical school and became a doctor when everyone she knew tried to stop her because of her gender.

So if she could make it through that, she could do anything.

That was until she saw Astre wandering through the maze-like corridors between the cages.

The twins should never had been born, she should've been the one to have Vincent's heir.

Additionally, she was always jealous of the twins' look, especially Astre's more feminine beauty.

While Ciel had taken after his father in more, Astre had inherited Rachel's delicate beauty in addition to his blue eyes and asthma.

Astre hadn't even had to speak to his hand, he just smiled as the mere sight of him had reset her timer.

***

The next stop on his revenge train was with Cousin Edward in 'Miluina' or 'Gluttony'.

Just like with Aunt Ann, Astre didn't even need to speak, he just watched Edward suffer through his eternal punishment.

In Gluttony, the damned were all chained to seats at a long dining table laden with gorgeous looking foods.

Each of the gluttons were forced to eat three heavy plates of food in under a minute, if they failed they would be eaten alive by wild boars and wake up and start over.

So far, Edward has finished one plate in about thirty seconds, his face and yellow jumpsuit a sloppy mess as he didn't even bother with utensils as he shoveled food into his mouth.

After watching him fail and get eaten, Astre and Sebastian left.

***

The final stop of their trip was in 'Ignavia' or 'Sloth' to visit Rachel.

In Sloth, the sinners were forced into physical labor.

Some had other menial tasks, like making the food for Gluttony, sewing clothes for the prison, or mining for precious materials for Greed.

Rachel was found at a sewing machine, sewing a purple jumpsuit for what Astre assumes was for a Pride prisoner while she wore a light blue one.

"Hello, mother." Astre greeted, standing in front of her machine

Rachel didn't look up, focused on her work as she had to make a million jumpsuits from scratch, even make her own fabric, in twenty years or less before moving on to the kitchens to make a million meals in twenty years and then mine a million valuables in forty years.

Astre didn't lie that she wasn't acknowledging him, so he cut the thread feeding into the sewing machine, "Look at me when I speak to you."

That caught her attention, mostly as she was annoyed that he was forcing her to rethread the machine.

"What?" Rachel asked, tears threatening to spill

"Out if our entire family, you were always kindest to me so I won't take up much of your time." Astre said, "I just wanted to let you know that every last member of our family are here in Hell, all of you except me are prisoners."

Rachel nodded sadly as she finished rethreading her sewing machine, continuing to sew.

Astre walked away, hurrying to wipe his face before anyone could see his singular tear...


	29. Memories

Narrator's POV

In the winter of 1881, now six year old Astre Phantomhive hummed as he walked back to his and Ciel's room.

The younger twin smiled when he saw his brother playing with their dog, Sebastian.

Rushing up to his brother, Astre have him a hug from behind, "Hi!"

"Hi!" The elder twin smiled, turning around and hugging him back

Since it was December 14th, it was their birthday since they were now six they had decided to spent the whole day playing with each other until their party.

The identical boys were both dressed in cute sailor costumes so when they went downstairs for their birthday lunch, they were photographed while holding hands.

Once they were sat at the table, the twins had lunch with their parents then servants brought out their birthday cake.

The cake was chocolate with a strawberry frosting topped with a chocolate ganache and chocolate-dipped strawberries above a few decorative swirls of frosting.

The cake reflected a perfect blend of both boys favored cake, incorporating their preferences.

Both happy birthday boys were sung to by their parents and opened the toys they couldn't wait to share.

After hugging their parents, the six year olds rushed up back to their shared bedroom to get some thicker clothes —especially for sickly Astre— before rushing out to play in the snow.

They rushed into the snowy garden, their faithful pet following behind.

While all the human people in their life paid more attention to the elder twin, the dog rarely left the younger’s side.

So, as the twins threw snowballs at each other, Astre had the black borzoi as a shield.

By the time the fight was over, the dog’s black fur was littered with white.

Tired from running around, the boys worked together to build a snowman.

All day, the best friends played together and it seems the brothers would be best friends forever.

***

In the spring of 1890, fourteen year old Astre was depressed.

The past two years of his life sucked and now he was half-blind.

Ever since Ciel ditched him for popularity and a group of friends, Astre had been a loner.

He had no friends and no one to talk to after Sebastian, his faithful dog, had died a few months after Ciel's betrayal.

Since it was early spring and the chill of winter hadn't quite left, Astre couldn't go outside for very long but he was determined to do something today.

So, bundled up in a thicker overcoat and a scarf, the fourteen year old made his way to the garden and sat on a bench.

After awhile of just gazing into the beautiful garden when Tanaka walked up to him with a handsome man a full head taller than the old man.

The stranger had semi-wild black hair, crimson eyes and very pale skin; judging by his uniform Astre guesses he was a new employee.

"Young Master Astre," The elderly butler said, "this is Sebastian Michaelis, your father has hired him to be your butler."

"Hello." Sebastian greeted, a his face neutral but his eyes kind

***

During the next year, Astre developed a crush on his butler.

Sebastian was just so perfect it didn’t seem real.

The black haired man paid attention solely to him; went behind his employers back to teach him how to shoot a gun and ride a horse; held him when he had nightmares; taught him about history and other languages, making sure Astre was fluent him French so they could speak without others understanding them.

So yes, he was in love with Sebastian and he hoped the older male felt the same.

***

A year passed and Astre was being bathed before bed, his empty eye-socket exposed and aching.

Astre smiled weakly at his butler turned lover, trying to make his way through the pain.

But ever observant, Sebastian noticed and kneeled beside the porcelain tub, putting the towel down on a nearby chair, "Beloved, I have a confession to make."

"What?" Astre asked, scared that Sebastian was abandoning him too

"I hurts me to see you in pain and I cannot allow myself to ignore it any longer, especially when I can help." Sebastian began, "I'm a demon."

The teen stared at him shocked, "There's no such thing. You've got to be lying."

Sebastian gently placed his hand on Astre's wound and when he removed it the blunette blinked a few times before he noticed his full vision had been returned.

"H-How?" Astre muttered, blinking a few times as he stared at his reflection in the water, seeing he now had a lavender eye where his wound used to be

Looking back to his older lover, Astre saw his crimson eyes had turned magenta, "I do not lie, not to you."

"So you're a demon?" Astre softly asked, believing him

"I am." Sebastian replied, "And you are my true mate, which is the demon equivalent to soulmate."...


	30. Just Desserts

Narrator's POV

128 years later, in the year 2020, Astre found himself living back in London for the first time since he was human.

Currently, the apartment they were living in was actually the Townhouse that had been split into two apartments.

The half of the apartment they were renting held his old bedroom, so that was good.

They had left Hell a century ago, having gotten bored of the realm's never-changing scenery.

This was their second day living here, having moved here from Berlin last night.

Flipping the channels boredly on the television, looking for anything slightly entertaining, Astre settled on Food Network.

After about half an hour of watching people bake wonderful looking tarts, Sebastian entered the house carrying reusable grocery bags.

"Hey." Astre greeted, turning to look at him

"Good afternoon." Sebastian greeted, heading towards the kitchen to put the groceries away

Once the older demon returned, Astre took note of his outfit: Sebastian wore a black leather jacket, a plain white t-shirt, ripped black jeans adorned with a few chains and black Dr. Martens.

Sebastian sat beside him, kissing his forehead, "You'll never believe who I saw on my way home from the shop."

"Is your sister stalking us again? I thought you told her that she's welcome when she wants to visit?" Astre said, confused

"You misunderstand me, I saw them, your brother and his wife, They're homeless and living in an alley a few blocks away, absolutely filthy." Sebastian informed

Astre laughed, "I ought to be mad they didn't die but this is hilarious. Take me to them, I want to see."

"Of course, caelum mihi." Sebastian said, grabbing his motorcycle keys from where he had left them on the table

***

Within the alley, Astre saw Lizzy huddled against a rubbish bin, half covered by a flat cardboard box.

Her once silky golden hair was now matted and so greasy it looked brown, her once porcelain skin was covered in a thick layer of dirt and dried blood.

Her clothes, once having been the finest quality of gowns, was now a mixture of stolen and falling apart clothes.

The only sign of her noble blood was in her shirt, which was her chemise which had been ripped in half to become a crop-top.

The rest of her outfit contained bluejean overalls that were several sizes too big, exposing that underneath she wore ripped black tights and on her feet she wore pink ballerina flats that were so worn out the soles were missing and exposed her sock-clad feet.

"So, Hobo Barbie, where's Ciel?" Astre cruelly asked

At first, Lizzy had just blinked up at him, but once she processed what he said, "YOU! YOU DID THIS TO US!"

Astre tsked and cast a silencing spell that would prevent human ears from hearing their conversation, "There's no need to shout, tell me, where's my brother?"

"I don't know." Lizzy admitted, "He went to look for food."

"Is there not a homeless shelter in London?" Astre asked, curious why they were in the streets

"We got kicked out of them." Lizzy shrugged, "They caught us injecting ourselves with fresh blood, they thought we were doing heroin so they banned us from coming back."

Sensing someone coming near them, the demons instinctively went into the shadows, seeing Ciel walk into the alley holding a bag of McDonalds and holding a soft drink.

"Thank god for DoorDash." Ciel groaned, "They bought that I was a pickup driver."

Lizzy gave a small chuckle but was staring at the shadows across from her where the demons hid, "What did we get?"

"According to the receipt, our unknowing benefactor got us large fries and a twenty-piece nugget as well as a Maltesers McFlurry and a large Sour Apple Cherry Oasis fizzy drink today." Ciel informed, sitting on the floor beside her as he reached into the bag and pulled out the box of nuggets

Before he could open the box, Lizzy stopped him, "You're brother here and watching us."

***

Back in 1892, after the disaster of their wedding, Ciel and Lizzy found themselves inheriting three massive family fortunes: from the Phantomhives, Midfords and Dalles-Burnett.

Well, massive was a bit of a stretch.

Their Aunt Ann's late husband wasn't very wealthy when he had been alive and her job as a doctor really didn't add too much to their wealth.

And the Midfords had been starting to fall onto hard times as well.

So the only true fortune they had was the Phantomhive money.

Which, they decided to focus entirely towards themselves and decided to sell all of the properties they had and rake in even more money.

After that, —with Undertaker's help— they bought an old building in London's Theater District and hired the best construction workers to create them a fine music hall.

No expense was spared, they bought only the finest floor tiles, marble support beams, stained glass windows, and wallpaper.

Additionally, they decorated it with fine art pieces, statues and expensive flora and hired musicians/dancers to create the group, the Starlight Four.

They even hired famous fortune teller, Blavat Sky, to attract more attention.

For an added touch, they commissioned renowned tailor, Nina Hopkins, to make Greek-style robes for their exclusive patrons as well as a jeweler to make lots of brackets out of fine silver to give to every single person who came to the music hall and got their fortune read —and blood type discovered.

Finally, they named their new establishment 'Sphere Music Hall'. 

It was easy to say their music hall was an absolute hit, day after day hundreds of people came and enjoyed the shows and every single person had their fortunes read.

And, obviously, all Sirius and Canopus patrons were invited to 'special' sessions where they unknowingly got their blood drawn to keep Lord Sirius and Lady Canopus alive.

For about fifteen years, everything was perfect, there were performances every day and they had plenty of blood for their transfusions.

But then, their coffers began to go dry and before long they simply ran out of money.

It seems providing luxury service for thousands of people a week and not charging even a shilling wasn't a smart business idea.

And to make things worse, Undertaker had recently been captured and killed by the British Reapers.

So, to salvage their wealth, they sold the music hall, Undertaker's shop, all of their paintings and other art, fired their staff and sold everything not stuck to the building.

Even after that, by 1910, they still had less than ten thousand pounds and only enough blood to last Lizzy three years and Ciel one and a half.

Luckily, before he had been captured, Undertaker had given them a list that was like a reaper's list of the dead, but instead it recorded the names and locations of every person in the world and their blood type and it constantly updated to remove any people who died and add people born.

As the following century had progressed, they had learned more about blood, they learned what they had called Sirius was actually AB blood and that Ciel was AB- which was the rarest blood type of all with only half a percent of the world with that blood type.

But, since Ciel had used both types of AB blood, he had a bit more of a chance with 4% of the world sharing the AB blood.

Lizzy and her Canopus blood, which was actually called B-, though she could use positive as well, had an easier time as 10% of the population could share blood with her.

Though, they had also discovered that people with Vega blood —or rather type O— could be compatible with them.

While Undertaker's studies had been very small compared to what scientists today could do, Ciel and Lizzy now had an easier time collecting blood as 44% of the world had either O+ or O- blood.

So, the pair kept themselves alive by breaking into people's houses after they fell asleep and drew about a pint of blood and snuck back out as if they hadn't been there.

They weren't bold enough to break into a blood bank, though, since inventory was kept there.

And while they could stay alive with stolen blood as always, that didn't change the fact that they were homeless and couldn't even get jobs since they had legally been dead for decades...


	31. Best Served Cold

Narrator's POV

Ciel turned and stared at the shadows, seimeing his little brother step out.

Where he had fell into financial ruin, the opposite had happened to Astre.

The younger twin wore a black sleeveless shirt that had a skeleton's torso on it, he also wore light washed ripped jean shorts and his feet were covered with white Dr Martens that had black detailing along with his wedding ring, Phantomhive rings and a silver and sapphire choker.

Ciel didn't even have to look to know what he had been wearing for the past few months: he wore a T-shirt that had once been white but was now stained with dirt and blood, a red and black flannel that was several sizes too big, jeans that were tied around his waist with ripped plastic grocery bags to form a makeshift belt and green rain boots with half missing soles.

And because they had been living on the streets for the past three months —having been kicked out of the last shelter around that time—, it had been that long since he had cleaned his body so he knew his body was covered in dirty and dried blood and his navy hair was so greasy it looked black.

Looking at his twin, it was clear that Astre was thinking the same thing.

A wicked smirk graced Astre's face, "Tell me, brother dear, who's the inferior twin now?"

Ciel didn't answer, he just scowled.

"That's no need to act all grumpy." Astre mockingly said, "It's obvious that you're not faring well, and since I'm a good brother and cousin, I'm going to offer you a job opportunity."

"We don't want your handouts!" Ciel spat

"The fact that you've made a home of cardboard by a rubbish bin says you do." Astre countered, "But it's adorable that you think I was giving you a choice."

Waving his hands, mental anklets appeared on the bizarre dolls’ right legs engraved with a raven.

With a snap, the four of them appeared in a plain bedroom with plain white walls and grey wooden floors holding only a full size bed with plain navy blue sheets, a small stained wooden desk and wardrobe and two doors presumably leading to the rest of the house and en-suite bathroom.

“This is your shared room. Clean yourselves up and get dressed in the clothes in the wardrobe.” Astre ordered, “Then come meet me in the sitting room and I’ll explain your new jobs.”

***

Not having much of a choice, Lizzy and Ciel took a shower together, helping each other clean their filthy bodies and greasy hair.

After drying off and brushing their hair to remove the tangles and mattes.

They then opened the wardrobe and put in the provided and undergarments and clothes.

Lizzy had been given a long-sleeved black dress with a pleated bubble skirt that had white ruffles on the sleeve cuffs.

She had also been given a white apron that had flared-out, ruffled, short-sleeves and ruffles around the edges; as well as black Mary Janes and stockings and white bows for her signature pigtails.

Ciel had been given a white button-up shirt, a black suit jacket with matching shorts.

Additionally, he had been given a black ribbon for his neck, black stockings and black dress shoes.

Once dressed, they eventually found the sitting room with Astre sitting alone.

The younger twin didn’t bother greeting them, just pulling out a gun and placing it on the table beside him, “You both will work as servants here in my father-in-law’s home when me and my mate live here or you’ll live with us whenever we live in the human realm. Either way, you both will be a butler and maid, respectively, until you repay your debt.”

“Because you both bullied me for five years, you both owe five thousand points. Because Ciel blinded me for two years, he owes ten thousand more points and Lizzy, you owe five thousand more for being a accomplice. Because you both tried to kill me on the Campania, you both owe twenty thousand points additionally. And, Ciel, because you betrayed me, you owe an extra five thousand points." Astre informed, taking his gun apart to clean it, "So, that means Lizzy owes thirty thousand points over all and Ciel owes forty thousand. And since you earn one point for every hour of work —I'll average it to twenty points every day if you work all but four hours of the day—, that's seven thousand and three hundred points a year. So Ciel will need to work for five and half years and Lizzy will owe little over four years."

That didn't seem so bad, that wasn't even a decade of work in order to regain their freedom.

"Oh, by the way," Astre added, still not looking at them as he reassembled his cleaned gun, "Your food, clothes, hygiene and lodging all cost twenty points every day and since you two will need blood that will be ten extra points every transfusion."

The bizarre dolls’ eyes widened: that wasn’t fair: they would never be able to repay their debts at that rate.

They didn’t even have to do the math that they would barely break even everyday and then their transfusions would add to their debt.

That damned smirked returned to Astre’s face as he finally looked at them, “I wouldn’t suggest running away, your anklets won’t let you leave Hell without my permission and any demon who sees you will just bring you back. And that’ll just add an extra ten thousand points to your debt.”

Ringing a nearby bell,a women also dressed as a maid walked in and curtsied to Astre, “You called, sir?”

“I did.” Astre told her, “This is Ciel and Lizzy, they’ll be working here from now on. Train them.”

***

The maid, who had introduced herself as Miriam, lead Lizzy and Ciel to the kitchen.

“Mainly, Master Allocen and Mistress Nicasia live here, but occasionally Master Sebastian and Master Astre visit.” Miriam informed, brushing some of her brown hair out of her face as she filled a kettle with water

Placing it on the gas stove, she continued to speak, “Mistress Nicasia and Master Astre both partake in food and drink, Master Allocen only partakes in drinks and Master Sebastian only occasionally has a glass of wine or coffee.”

Barely filling a tiny pot with milk and placing it on the stove, she continued, “Once you learn their routines, the work gets easier. Currently, I’m making a London Fog, which is Master Astre’s favorite afternoon drink. I’m getting the water ready to take the Earl Grey leaves and ground lavender and steaming the milk. Once the milk is done, I’ll combine it with a bit of sugar, and vanilla extract and pour it into one of the glass mugs in the cupboard beside you; be a dear and get one for me.”

Lizzy did as asked a pulled out a mug that was adorned its roses on the handle and along the base.

Handing it to Miriam, they watched as she prepared the drink after placing it on a matching saucer and putting it on the tray that already held a few petit fours

***

Later that night, Ciel scowled as he washed dishes, handing them to Lizzy so she could dry them.

This sucked as much as being homeless...


	32. Postquam Beatus Umquam

Narrator's POV

Elizabeth Ethel Cordelia Phantomhive née Midford was miserable.

It had been six years since she and Ciel had begun to work for his brother and life had been miserable ever since.

They were no closer to fulfilling their debts, in fact the opposite was true because of their necessary blood transfusions slowly yet steadily adding to it.

For these six years, Ciel bared the brunt of the demons' abuse since he was usually tasked with the more challenging chores, like now he was massaging Astre's feet.

Additionally, Lizzy currently found herself rubbing Astre's shoulders as the demon flipped through a magazine, occasionally marking an object of interest with a purple sticky note.

But that's not what really bothered the blonde maid, no what bothered her was that the demon was reading a maternity magazine and said demon was three months pregnant.

Because she had technically died on her wedding day, her womb had died with her and had not been able to be brought back to life as she had.

So, she would never be able to fulfill her childhood wish of having Ciel's heirs while his tramp of a brother was pregnant.

Sensing her envy or his pregnancy, Astre pointed to two cribs in his magazine, making sure to stress the possessive pronouns, "Tell me, Lizzy, which do you think is better for my baby?"

Looking down, the first crib was such a dark brown that it nearly looked black and was circular and was adorned with intricate carvings of flowers and vines and had ruffles of intricate white lace on the bottom.

The second crib was painted white and rectangular, also having white lace ruffles on the bottom and decorative wheels to make the crib resemble a carriage.

Biting her tongue to avoid getting in trouble, Lizzy answered, "The second one looks fun."

Humming, Astre decided to get both: the first for the sitting room and the second for the nursery.

***

Six months later, Astre gave birth to identical twin girls that had their father's black hair and mother's sapphire eyes.

The girls had been named Estelle and Celeste and they were both equally spoiled and loved with Celeste shown no extra attention just because she was slightly older than her twin.

Not only were they the apples of their parent's eyes, they were absolutely adored by their grandfather and aunt.

In fact, even as newborns, they could frequently be found in strollers being shown around Hell by their adoring aunt.

And their grandfather spoiled them rotten, they barely had do more than ask to receive anything they desired.

So, it was easy to say these darling girls were truly little demons by the time they were old enough to speak.

All four of their family members were wrapped so runs their tiny fingers, they wanted for nothing.

***

When the twin girls were twenty years old toddlers, Ciel Sirius Phantomhive found himself cleaning the library when he felt something smack him from behind.

Turning around, he saw the twin he guessed was Celeste based on the 'C' embroidered on her headband.

She had thrown a snowball at him, which he cleaned up before it could melt into the Persian rug on the floor.

Once he had collected the snowball onto the dustpan, he began to walk towards the rubbish bin in the room, seeing Estelle half hiding behind her sister.

That was like déjà vu, reminding him of a moment over a century ago where he had been in Celeste's place and Astre in Estelle's.

He briefly remembered being protective of his brother before he had met others his own age.

***

When Celeste and Estelle reached adulthood at a hundred years old, they had four younger siblings.

Seventy-five year old Montague had their father's black hair and crimson eyes.

Fifty-two year old Clementine who had their mother's navy hair and aunt's silver eyes.

Thirty-one year old Percival who had their mother's hair and sapphire eyes.

And the youngest, twelve year old Antoinette who had their mother's hair and lavender eyes.

Each child grew up incredibly loved, with no child favored over the others.

They all —excluding Lizzy and Ciel— lived happily ever after.

The end.


End file.
